'It's a special niche de luxe,' says designer Matt Dick, facing his extensive aprons rack on a sunny San Francisco afternoon. Set in the Heath Ceramics factory building in the trendy Mission District, his showroom studio is a destination in itself. The bright space meticulously displays bounties of craft and fashion rarities. They are either hand-made on the spot – like his own collection of khadi cotton kurtas – or curated from across the globe: from esoteric jewelry by collaborator Llane Alexis, to leather goods from select Japanese brand i ro se, blankets from bhujodi weavers and abstract mobiles in elm by local artist Ruth Charlotte Kneass.
Dick, a former collaborator with the legendary designer Tamotsu Yagi, has traveled extensively. Fluent in Japanese, he educated himself about rare fabrics and endangered traditional processes. Founded in 2010, his Californian Small Trade Company (st/CO) is the epitome of his high, refined, Asian-inspired aesthetic, transcending the indie terms of 'slow-fashion' or 'stealth luxury'. Hence the aprons.
The workwear line (and Dick's company name) stem from Irving Penn's 1950 book Small Trades, a collection of black and white portraits of retro professional looks. st/CO's contemporary versions dress baristas, hotel staff, servers and clerks for clients such as Blue Bottle Coffee, Heath Ceramics, Durham Hotel, the Mast Brothers and Tartine Bakery. The de luxe feeling comes from the aprons' stunning simplicity, attention to detail, and crisp or heavy natural fabrics, as well as the radical efficiency of their expert geometry.
Canvases experiment with raw dark denim, wheat linen, crisp muslin, natural poudré leather or even hemp 'stained in turmeric spice tea' (for a SF tea company). Waist ties in thin natural leather and pockets aligned in strategic positions welcome all sort of personalisations. The st/CO credo of essential chic in working contexts will next be unveiled on the staff of massage therapists, aestheticians and lifeguards at the Shibui Spa at New York's Greenwich Hotel.
The company takes its name from Irving Penn's 1950 book Small Trades, a collection of black and white portraits of retro professional looks
Matt Dick, who has collaborated with the legendary designer Tamotsu Yagi, has traveled extensively, educating himself about rare fabrics and endangered traditional making in the process
INFORMATION
For more information, visit the Small Trade Company's website
Photography: Daniel Dent
ADDRESS
Small Trade Company
550 Florida Sreet
San Francisco, CA 94110
-
Maserati unveils the Fuoriserie By Hiroshi Fujiwara MC20 Cielo modelHiroshi Fujiwara, the so-called Godfather of Streetwear, lends his talents to Maserati’s in-house bespoke division, creating a stylish take on the company’s open-topped supercar
-
Diffar is a new Japanese hair brand making perfume oil at the foot of Mount FujiDiffar, a newly founded Japanese beauty brand, creates perfume oils for hair in its Mount Fuji laboratory that are set to travel the world
-
‘Architecture for Dogs is about exploring the joy and meaning behind design’: ADI’s latest exhibition celebrates the human-canine bondAs a showcase of designs for dogs opens in Milan, we find out why inviting our four-legged friends into exhibitions benefits everybody.
-
‘Gas Tank City’, a new monograph by Andrew Holmes, is a photorealist eye on the American West‘Gas Tank City’ chronicles the artist’s journey across truck-stop America, creating meticulous drawings of fleeting moments
-
Intimacy, violence and the uncanny: Joanna Piotrowska in PhiladelphiaArtist and photographer Joanna Piotrowska stages surreal scenes at the Institute of Contemporary Art at the University of Pennsylvania
-
First look: Sphere’s new exterior artwork draws on a need for human connectionWallpaper* talks to Tom Hingston about his latest large-scale project – designing for the Exosphere
-
Marc Hom reframes traditional portraiture in Cooperstown, NY‘Marc Hom: Re-Framed’ has taken over the grounds of the Fenimore Art Museum, Cooperstown, planting Samuel L Jackson, Gwyneth Paltrow and more ‘personalities of the world’ into the landscape
-
Alexander May, founder of LA studio Sized, on the joys of creative polymathyCreative director Alexander May tells us of the multidisciplinary approach that drives his LA studio Sized and its offspring, a 5,000 sq ft event space and an exhibition series
-
First Fraenkel Film Festival in San Francisco: what to seeThe Fraenkel Film Festival, at the Roxie Theater in San Francisco, sees ten Fraenkel gallery artists choose films that impact their work
-
50 of America’s top creatives, photographed by Inez & VinoodhPhotographed exclusively for Wallpaper* by Inez & Vinoodh, we present a portfolio of 50 creatives driving the current discourse on American culture and its dynamic evolution
-
Nona Faustine confronts the past in New YorkArtist Nona Faustine reframes New York's colonial past in an exhibition at the Brooklyn Museum
