Don’t miss Third Thursdays: Made By Hand, at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, an evening of cocktails, conversation, and music this Thursday, August 21, and see the fashion exhibition Carla Fernández: The Barefoot Designer, through this month.
Behind the scenes at Blank Label
Boston, the storied “city on a hill,” is a decided leader in many arenas—tech, medicine, higher education…This list goes on and on. But one industry where our city has failed to secure supremacy is fashion. Boston has never been called “the fashion capital of the world,” certainly not with the behemoth of Manhattan just a couple hundred miles to the south.
Bogus stereotypes haven’t helped. Boston has also had its fair share (or arguably its unfair share) of style bashing. Three years ago, GQ even included Boston among the “Worst-Dressed Cities in America.” We don’t have enough ink to detail the myriad of reasons why that list and Boston’s presence upon it is ludicrous, but according to GQ, sports fans and college students are the only populations occupying our city (wrong). Oh, and none of them know how to dress (wrong again). Supposedly, Bostonians’ wardrobe consists of nothing but Red Sox regalia, North Face jackets, and stacks on stacks of sweatpants.
Sure, Boston has its share of Brady-loving bros, but doesn’t every city have sports fans that may miss the style mark? And for every be-hooded frat guy or Ugg-wearing undergrad, there are blocks of young professionals who dress to impress. A quick lunchtime stroll around Kendall Square, the Financial District, Coolidge Corner, or needless to say, Newbury Street will be enough to convince you that Boston has style in spades.
Still skeptical? Allow us to enlighten GQ and any of you other Boston style non-believers. Our city is experiencing a bit of a fashion evolution. A surge of style-minded startups have emerged to join Boston’s more established brands, giving the local style scene an innovative edge and a unique voice in the industry.
“Boston wins for ‘most improved’ when it comes to fashion,” Greg Selkoe, CEO and Founder of Karmaloop, said at BostInno’s State of Innovation. “There’s a burgeoning fashion scene; we’re special here. People are rooting for us.”
The local fashion industry is diverse, forward-thinking, but most of all, it’s growing, marking Boston as a city to watch. From corporate titans to scrappy startups, check out these ten local fashion brands built in Boston, proving the local style scene sets trends and shatters stereotypes.
Image via Blank Label / Facebook
