Wilkes Bashford

SF Style: Wilkes Bashford

For over forty years, Bay Area’s carefully coifed and fashion fabulous have turned to the elegantly luscious selections of Wilkes Bashford for their stylish needs. Having established his eponymous Union Square location in 1966, Wilkes was the first to carry Ermenegildo Zenga; also presented were such high-end brands as Brioni, Oscar de la Renta, Dolce & Gabbana, and Kiton. He has since opened luxury fashion and beauty boutiques in Mill Valley and Carmel.

Gazette editor Chérie Turner recently had the pleasure of sitting down with the always delightful and charming Wilkes to get his take on the evolving definition of luxury, the impact the economy is having on shopping habits, and, most importantly, how all of this is effecting the way we stay fashionable. Here are the insightful observations Wilkes had to share:

“To me, luxury has never been only about price. There are a lot of things in life that could be defined as luxury, and they don’t all necessarily have to be a high-priced item. To me luxury is really about a person living and expressing who they are; that’s a luxury, to be able to be confident enough and have the ability to present yourself for who you are as an individual.

“I’ve noticed one of the results of this difficult climate has been that people are being more creative about how they spend their money. When times were different, people just spent. They bought by designer. They didn’t necessarily feel they had to think as much about how they were going to spend the money. I think that the fact that they consider more how they are going to spend this money, they may end up with a much more individual look.

“It used to be, a certain designer came in, and they wanted to be dressed in that designer. It was, ‘Price be damned! this is what we want to look like.’ Today, they think more about, How am I going to be creative and have excitement and enjoy my clothes without spending quite as much money? So now, there is the concept of not so much about just buying designers as much as, ‘What’s the right mix for me?’ I think that’s very healthy.

“So today, people are mixing designers; they’re mixing high with low. In our realm, they might wear Kiton or Brioni, which are our most expensive lines, and put them with something from Banana Republic. They’re even mixing seasons. Instead of saying, ‘Now it’s August, so I have to completely change my wardrobe,’ they can actually mix seasons. I could see, for instance—and I’m talking menswear, too, men and women—a customer might buy something in flannel, and, because of our weather, mix it with linen—if it’s done in a sophisticated way. By mixing things, opening up yourself to more ideas and being creative, you can look wonderful and not spend as much money. You haven’t been so structured, just buying and wearing these clothes the way the designer designed them. Sometimes when clients would only buy a particular designer, those clothes weren’t necessarily right for a person’s lifestyle. Instead, you create your own wardrobe, and you do it in a way that really meets your needs better. It’s a more authentic look, a little more real.”