Blakely Bass’s RAG initiative shows off the work of local designers in San Francisco at a special catwalk show, reports Catherine Rigod

PHOTOGRAPHED BY CHRISTINE LUONG

TOP LEFT: The RAG designers. REMAINDER OF PAGE: Designs from RAG.

OUSING an array of designers, whose designs are unusual, classic, stylish and truly assorted with the distinctive flavour of the Bay Area, RAG is reaching an untapped talent pool, and bringing it to a larger market.
   Conveniently located in the hip Hayes Valley district of San Francisco, Residents Apparel Gallery, or RAG, is a store where local designers rent out floor space to display and sell their creations. RAG’s innovation is the brainchild of Blakely Bass, a hard-working and independent-thinking individual who is forgeing ahead to make San Francisco a fashion hot spot.
   RAG supports local designs which are produced, sold and worn in San Francisco, and throughout Northern California. The racks at RAG not only display clothing, but also history, inspirations and images of the designers, all to better express their collections and advertise their wears.
   Catwalk, a San Francisco Fashion Series is a monthly fashion show held at 111 Minna, a SoMa (South of Market district) club where models proudly strut down the runway and display the newest and brightest of Bay Area talent. This month was the RAG Collective, a cornucopia of the best RAG has to offer, and their visions of fall 2003.
   Which decade would you prefer: ’40s sophistication, ’60s mod or ’80s pop? Whether it is through fabric, colour, shape or length, elements of the past were screaming through to today’s runway ideas.

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Which decade would you prefer: ’40s sophistication, ’60s mod or ’80s pop? Elements of the past were screaming through to today’s runway ideas