Tights hand-painted by local artist Caroline Geys.
For a while there, even the artsy crowds in Miami were as label-obsessed as their “mainstream” counterparts, only swapping, say, Viktor and Rolf, Marc Jacobs, and maybe Jeremy Scott for the usual Gucci/Prada/whatever. It would be easy to link recent winds of change in that attitude to the recession. But bohemia exists in a parallel universe, anyways, and the cost of living here has long been so much cheaper than New York or L.A. that Miami people always seem to have more disposable income.
Marc Jacobs love will last forever, but lately the city seems to be discovering a late-period reconnection with d.i.y. ideals, with many favoring repurposed garments, or at least those with a clear personal touch, over slicker offerings.
And they’re buying them outside of the usual boutique and store circuit. Indie rock and garage shows at a recently rediscovered American Legion building in the city’s so-called “Upper Eastside” neighborhood usually include clothing sale, swap, or silkscreening stands from local one-person operations like Ohh Shirt. (The one guy behind the operation stocks redesigned and limited-edition T-shirts and band merch in his home.)
Another recent large-scale swap event, the First Annual South Florida Swap-o-Rama was held in nearby Fort Lauderdale, at a place called the Trash 2 Treasure Creative Reuse Center. Attendees entered with a bag of old clothes, and paid a small cover fee to enter and trade. They could take their final picks as-is, or have them screen-printed or even altered on site.
Other local artists and designers are applying the personal touch. Caroline Geys is a local abstract artist who usually paints bold, graphic architectural canvases, but lately has taken her designs to a line of tights for the company We Love Colors. Each order is custom and hand-painted, and features a different motif.
Meanwhile the local design collective Little Ramonas offer almost exclusively one-off alterations of vintage pieces for super-affordable prices; most dresses are under $50. The founders sell them at music events and parties, and in a well-designed web store.
A reworked vintage dress by Little Ramonas, via littleramonas.com