Ali Golden’s Temescal Alley Tour
A half dozen stellar spots in Oakland’s most happening ‘hood.
Imagine going to work everyday next door to all your friends, who happen to be cool, creative types you can look (across the alley) to for inspiration. Yah, that’s Ali Golden’s life, as her little corner of Oakland, the offbeat Temescal, gains attention for everything from killer clothes and jewelry to good eats and hip hair. There’s so much amazingness close by that there’s rarely a reason to leave. “The shop owners in the alley have a whiskey cocktail named after us at Pizzaiolo since we frequent the place so often!” Ali humble-brags. Here, the places that Ali frequents and you should, too. —carly pifer
Score the rockin’ silk top Ali made from her sweet set-up now!
Temescal Alley Barbershop: “I originally found my studio and discovered Temescal Alley through Brad at the Temescal Alley Barbershop. Everything just came together when I met Brad and was introduced to this great community of people. I don’t get my haircut at the barbershop, but my boyfriend does—and he loves it. And it is just a super nice space to hang out.”
Esqueleto: “Another great friend, Lauren Wolf of Esqueleto [Ed: And her own jewelry line, featured on this site!] moved from New York recently and opened this seriously great shop. Everything about it is perfect. Lauren is extremely supportive and such a good role model for me as a business girl and just a human being in general. We’ve done a few little collaborations and are planning on collaborating on a lookbook soon!”
Marisa Haskell: “Marisa Haskell, a jewelry designer, is like a sister to me. Originally, I moved in next door to her then-studio, and a few days later we had Brad saw out a permanent doorway in the wood wall that connected our studios. So, for a year, we basically shared a studio, and it was so lovely. Sadly, last month she out-grew her space and moved eight feet, directly across the way. We’re looking into purchasing walkie talkies.”
Minds Eye Vintage: “Sarah Rainey and Maya Messoriano, who own Minds Eye Vintage, are two great friends of mine. I keep saying that, but it’s true in every case! Their shop is a perfectly designed, perfectly curated manifestation of their own rad personal styles.”
Crimson Horticultural Rarities: “The owners of Crimson Horticultural Rarities, Leigh Okies and Allison Futeral, are more great friends, and theirs was one of the first shops in the alley. It has grown into something very special. Their shop is full of great little plants and objects.”
Pizzaiolo: “These are the boys from Pizzaiolo taking a break in front of the vintage store—the owner, Charlie Hallowell, is on the left. Pizzaiolo is a restaurant that focuses on local, seasonal food, and the alley where my studio and store is located dead-ends into their backyard/garden/chicken-coop.”
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Ali Golden Gets Handsy With Her Line
Why not do as much as you can, while you can?
Ali’s studio and store, set in a former horse stable in Temescal Alley in Oakland.
“I’ve really tried to build my line and business the way I think it should exist, which is kind of out of the normal cycle of the fashion industry,” Ali Golden says of her namesake line of easy-fitting tunics and, more recently, rockin’ canvas bags. Here, a few of the ways that Ali gets her hands dirty. —carly pifer
“I do all my own pattern-drafting and sample-sewing. Making my own patterns is one of my favorite parts of the design process. It’s great because the turn-around time per style is super fast when I can do the fitting, fix the pattern, and re-sew the sample quickly. Then I can sell ‘first-draft’ samples in the store—there is very little time or materials wasted.”
“This kind of shows the process of how my prints come to life. I started using prints in my spring 2013 collection, and they have been hand-drawn and put into the computer—by me!—and then silk-screened. The above print was printed in two color-ways on two types of fabric.”
“Peter and Mai are the owners of the San Francisco factory that does my production, and I have a very close relationship with them. Before me, they didn’t have clients who did silk garments, so I got to teach them how to sew with silk!”
“I make all the bags in my line at the moment because it’s a nice excuse to sew and use my hands—I do all the cutting, sewing, and leatherwork with help from my dear assistant. It’s a labor-intensive process, but I love it! Originally, I was only going to be selling them directly, but some great stores showed interest—so I’ve started wholesaling them to a few good friends. At the moment, I’m working on finding a local production place to construct the bags because I can’t do it myself anymore!”
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Ali Golden
Ali Golden the designer is as straightforward as Ali Golden the line. With a background in graphic design and fine arts, she just sort of fell into the clothing world in 2011, discovering an attraction to flowy fabrics and clean lines. Of course it doesn’t hurt that she is an expert on the sewing machine, still making patterns and sewing her own samples, and is highly involved in every last aspect of her production, a rarity that totally shines through in her simple, thoughtful collection.
Meandering her way up the West Coast, Ali spent her childhood surfing and soaking up SoCal’s carefree vibes and now calls Oakland home. The offbeat neighborhood where her shop-meets-studio is located happens to be one of the coolest scenes in the city, with a vibe speaks to the sort of girl who would be drawn to her pieces. As Ali explains, that’s someone who “wants comfort foremost, but still wants to look good and unique. I like the idea of displaying my style with a lightness and a sense of humor—nothing too serious,” she says. Another key feature of her mostly silk label: “Almost everything is one size fits 0 to 10, so it literally is for everyone. It’s utilitarian and inspired by the notion of a uniform: anonymous with an edge.” —carly pifer
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Lauren Wolf
Lauren Wolf has always had a decisive personality. “My mom says that when I was little she’d never buy me clothes or anything because I was always so opinionated,” says the 32-year-old Oakland-based designer. So when a friend told her about an artist community in San Miguel, Mexico, that offered silversmithing classes, Lauren didn’t think twice about abandoning a career in advertising to head south of the border in 2002. “I had studied journalism and anthropology in school,” she says. “But as soon as I heard about learning jewelry-making in Mexico, it wasn’t even a question: I knew that’s what I wanted to do.”
It’s that same uncompromising self-assuredness that makes Lauren’s designs for her eponymous label, which she launched two years after taking the jewelry plunge, so badass: spikey silver stingray necklaces, gold bear-claw pendants, studs made with precious black pearls or unpolished ruby. Some of her boldness also comes from years spent honing her craft—after an intense six months in Mexico, she moved to New York City to further her studies at the Fashion Institute of Technology and did eight years in the city before moving to Oakland, where she now also owns a boutique.
Lately, Lauren’s expanded her business to include custom work, which means she has had to learn to curb her more stubborn tendencies. “It’s kind of daunting to create outside your normal box,” she says. But the intrepid designer who mixes diamonds with anaconda bones has always relished a challenge. “It always ends up much better than you think.” —raquel laneri
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Weather Vain: Santa Monica, California - 72 and Partly Cloudy
We’re in L.A. this week! And, to celebrate, I figured I oughta put together an ensemble that would be perfect should we make our way a smidge west today. Ah, ocean breezes. —erica
Clockwise from top left:
+ Sure, they’re glittery, but the shape of these Loeffler Randall sandals have a total walking-the-pier vibe.
+ This Pamela Love ring adds a pop of color to an otherwise neutral outfit—goes well with the lush greenery (and the lobby of the Viceroy), no?
+ A silk Vanessa Bruno jumpsuit with a forgiving waist gives you the option to order the cheese plate and sweet potato fries at Father’s Office.
+ This chunky necklace is by Gabriela Artigas—who lives a quick drive away (well, depending on the traffic) in West Hollywood.
+ With its open weave, this bronze-y Kelly Bergin sweater is just warm enough for a pre-sunset beach stroll.
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Sophie Monet’s Dangerous Tools
If you thought jewelry-making was a delicate craft—well, read on.
Sophie Monet Okulick’s elegant wood-and-rock designs might be polished, but the process of making them is as dangerous and messy as it is intense. “I cut myself all the time—my hands are so messed up,” she L.A.-based phenom explains. “But I just really like to work with my hands. Getting that end result is really satisfying and makes me feel so good.” These are five of the awesome-scary tools she uses along the way.
“That’s my dremel—it looks like fun, but it is a monster. I use that to carve out the settings in the rings and necklaces. I wear a mask because my face is so close to it, and it gets sawdust everywhere. It got stuck in my hair once—it was terrible. So now I have my rule: I always have to wear my hair up. I don’t know why that wasn’t the rule to begin with.”
“I cut all my forms on the band saw. The blades break a lot—so that’s a challenge—and you have to careful you don’t get your fingers too close to it.”
“The belt sander gets me the fine detail and the softness that I want the finished product to have. I experiment with it most often because you can change things the fastest. You can stand over a belt sander for an hour, making something smaller and smaller and smaller. When my friends come over and want to make something, I hand them a random scrap piece and let them go to work.”
“I use an epoxy to attach the rocks. It’s messy because if you use too much, it’s difficult to clean up the edges. I try to wear gloves, but I a lot of times I have to use lacquer thinner to get it off my hands.”
“The drill press is what I use when I make my rings, to make the hole for your finger. I pull it down and drill a clean circle into the wood. You really have to have a tight grip on everything.”
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Sophie Monet’s Guide to the Big Sur
The California native is exploring her home state and letting it inspire her.
Sophie styling her lookbook post-trip.
Now that Sophie Monet has moved back West after a stint in New York, she’s doing some latitudinal exploring. Awhile ago, the designer, who makes earthy chic wood-and-rock jewelry, and her boyfriend headed up to the Big Sur. The jagged cliffs and the dramatic drop-offs got her so excited that she decided to try to mimic the rocky beach setting for a lookbook, shot in Malibu. Here, she shares the five finds that have stuck with her.
Sophie doing her best tree gnome, stepping out of a huge redwood.
The (Daunting) Hike: “There’s this place called Jade Cove Beach—so, of course, I was like, ‘I can get jade and make my jewelry with it!’ I was thinking it was going to be this easy little rocky beach, but it is literally a rope going down to the water that you have to traverse as if you’re rock climbing. We met this guy down there who was teaching us what to look for. There was a lot of quartz, and it was cool to be able to see that you could still go to these places and find the natural formations. It makes me have a greater appreciation of the stones I use and what goes into finding them.”
A gorgeous, vivid field of poppies.
The Breakfast: “I think the best meal I had was at Big Sur Bakery. It was our last day, and no place was open for brunch anymore. We went to a gas station, and that’s where the bakery is. They have these delicious homemade chocolate croissants, and the coffee is some of the best ever.”
This is how tremendous the trip was.
The Back Road: “You usually take Highway One into Big Sur, but the day before we left, there had been a landslide. We had to take an alternate route from all the way inland that took another extra hour, but it actually turned out to be really cool because we came from the east, through the navy base and through the forest. All of the sudden, everything opened up and we were at the top of the mountain, and we could see down at the ocean. We felt like we were a mile up in the air, but we could touch the ocean.”
One of the long-exposure light drawings.
The Overnight Spot: “We stayed at this place called Fernwood—it’s a campground, but we stayed in a cabin. We made a campfire at night and did these light drawings—we got all crazy with the flashlight and camera. It became obsessive because we wanted to get our words just right.”
The mind-blowing falls.
The Sight to See: “McWay Falls is a waterfall that goes out to the ocean. There used to be a house on the cliff, and I can’t imagine living there and being able to look at that view every day. It’s just so remote and beautiful.”
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Going Local: Elizabeth Yarborough Gets to Know the Sheep Behind the Yarn
For Elizabeth Yarborough, who makes awesome bangles like these under the name Yarbie, a key inspiration hub is also a place of production: She visits a close-to-SF farm to spin yarn and meet the animals she has to thank for it. Amazing, right? Dive on in…
“Wind Rush Farm is near Petaluma, California, just an hour’s drive from my home in San Francisco. Pictured here is a beautiful barn and courtyard where I spin sheep’s wool into yarn and then dye it using all-natural materials like onion skins and annatto seeds. My teachers are Mimi and Marlie, master yarn-spinners and lovely ladies, and classes always start with a visit to the pastures! Mimi invites people to learn more about yarn-making and farm life on her blog, too.” —elizabeth
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Tripping: Asia Ragland of Feliks + Adrik Is Right At Home in the Big Sur
If you haven’t planned a summer vacation yet, let our little “Tripping” series be your guide. Just please don’t blame us if you accomplish approximately nothing the rest of the day because Asia Ragland’s last great escape (below!) took you down a Big Sur rabbit hole.
Shut. Up.
“To celebrate my 30th, I rallied a group of dear friends to spend the weekend together in Big Sur, California. The theme was Lost Boys-meets-The Goonies. As there were 14 of us, I rented an enormous house, and it, the views, the private hiking trails, and the company were out of this world. Though it was tempting to spend every moment in our cliffside retreat, we ventured to Pfeiffer Beach—an enchanting stretch of land spotted with surreal rock formations and dusted with purple sand—and afterwards, we gathered at the Big Sur Taphouse, a cozy and charming bar located just south of the beach on the highway. Overall, I recommend renting a house or a cabin whether there are 14 of you or just two. Experiencing the luxury of privacy and ideal location is priceless.” —asia
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Tripping: Shannon Davenport and Julia Wilson of Fortune Favors the Brave Take On Yosemite
Since summer’s first loooong weekend is in view, we decided to celebrate by asking some of our well-traveled designers where they wish they were right now (and where they think you should head if you have some vacation days that need dealing with). First up: The former Cali girls of Fortune Favors the Brave, who have already earned major globe-trotting cred here.
Yah, these Ahwahnee Hotel pics probably deserve a place on your vacation Pinterest.
“Sadly it’s too far to visit this Memorial Day, but we LOVE going to Yosemite National Park in California. We both grew up going there with our families since its only about a three hour drive from the San Francisco Bay Area. We usually camp, but it’s fun while you’re there to put on some non-outdoor gear and have dinner at the Ahwahnee Hotel, which is absolutely beautiful. Funny enough we spent a lot of time watching Ken Burns’s The National Parks while we were designing our latest collection, so it all comes full circle!” —shannon
