Documenting the creative DIY fashion movement of Portland, Oregon between 2000 and 2010, Portland Fashion in the Aughts captures this pre-Instagram era moment through images, narratives, and ephemera gathered by the community and curated by former fashion editor of The Mercury, Marjorie Skinner.
Portland, Oregon at the end of the 20th century was a town at a remove from fashion’s capitals. The scrappiest of the West Coast’s cities was struggling with racism and drugs, adjacent to major cultural movements but rarely at the center. However, Portland was gathering momentum for an era in which its “maker culture” would inspire the world. Defined by a hyper-local approach to consumer goods, a celebration of this ethos was about a decade away from being broadcast by the New York Times, Portlandia, and Project Runway.
In 2000, a little boutique named Seaplane was co-founded by Holly Stalder and Kate Towers on SE Belmont Street. It quickly became the hub for a community of unconventional apparel designers whose one-of-a-kind creations debuted at legendary fashion shows in collaboration with the city’s music, art, culinary, literary, and other creative scenes.
The years between 2000 and 2010 would see Portland apparel designers create an industry that offered unique alternatives to mainstream and mass-manufactured clothing. Aesthetically, it rarely referenced the dictums of the global fashion establishment, more focused on expression than commerciality. The exhibit shares this moment in Portland's creative history through images, fashion pieces, and film collected to preserve a facet of the city's cultural originality.
Special thanks to the Regional Arts & Culture Council and Portland State University.
Photo Credit: courtesy of Claire La Faye