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The company behind @Portland on Instagram isn't a PR firm or a City department. It's retailer Portland Gear. Owner Marcus Harvey intends to be the unpaid face of Portland PR, posting quirks, snapshots and stories daily. Of course, it's also marketing for his own clothing brand, which shares the city's name.
Earlier this year, Harvey bought an iconic VW van with the intention of making it a roving retail hotspot. On May 1 he's teaming up with Widmer and Compound Gallery to start up the project, hoping to turn his 101k online followers into a real life following and his van into a local landmark. Harvey will be giving out pieces of his Portland Gear collection from the back of the VW.
Portland is Almost Surf-Ready
Hawthorne's SoCal-style boutique Communion is getting ready for sun and summer with new pieces from skateboarding and surfing lifestyle brands like OurCaste, Globe, Jachs New York, and Neuwdenim. Even pale Portlanders will eventually need a new set of swim trunks. Communion's online store isn't up yet, but representatives say it should be by early June.
The Pearl's Shoe Supplier
Shoe store Halo is the epitome of Pearl District retail. Lofty as the name, it's pricier than Portlanders are used to, yet still affordable to high-end shoppers, stocking everything from Italian leather loafers to Northwest staples like Red Wing Boots and clogs. Love or hate it, this is what Pearl retail is all about. Halo's spring line has oxfords from Paraboot, Sandals from Moma, and speciality French clogs from Bosabo.
Jess Kamm in Portland
Francis May hosted a trunk show for it's "dream girl," designer Jesse Kamm, who came from Los Angeles to host her first trunk show May 14th. Kamm, whose minimalist and handsome women's line just turned ten, brought a few one of a kind pieces to the party.
Francis May cited Kamm's "lovely rejection of trend-motivated fashion" and her styles that "are guaranteed to retain their coolness as they age" on its site.
As a result, retail goes online. We're not a tech city like San Francisco, selling our soul to Google and Facebook, but Portland shopping soes rely heavily on web traffic. Heart Coffee, a small roaster with just two locations in Portland, ships its 12 oz. bags worldwide and has the same amount of Instagram followers as Intelligentsia, a company with 6 shops in it's home city of Chicago, 3 in Los Angeles and 1 in New York.
Some of the biggest names in Portland retail are online suppliers. Poler Stuff is almost completely based in Los Angeles, though its small flagship store is in Southwest Portland; Tanner Goods is currently focused on expanding even though it plans on keeping labor local; And skateboarding Daddies and CCS sells most of its skate supplies out of state, but shop owners still insist on hiring mainly Portlanders and selling local brands.
Portland might seem a one-dimensional, plaid-printed lumberjack town, but with its growing online presence, Rose City retail is plugging in to the wide fashion world now more than ever before.
WWeek 2015