san francisco designers

Photography courtesy of Thread Show

You certainly don't need a reason to go to Thread this weekend. But we'll give you seven:

From the gr.dano spring 2010 collection

Photography courtesy of Drake for gr.dano

Come spring, gr.dano wants to let you down easy – or, at least, soften the landing as we emerge from winter months – courtesy of a spring 2010 collection punctuated with uncharacteristically loose, flowing pieces in crinkled parachute-like fabric alongside the structured shapes and neutral hues the San Francisco-based label from Brian Scheyer and Jill Giordano has become known for.

Marine Layer hopes to draw dudes to its Russian Hill loft with happy hour events.

Photography courtesy Chris Andre for Marine Layer

They say size doesn’t matter, but try telling that to the folks at Marine Layer, whose new Friday happy hour events kick off today in the local t-shirt company’s Russian Hill loft.

“The reason I launched the company was because I was always in between a medium and a large,” explains Michael Natenshon, who launched the line of super-soft men’s polo shirts and tees ($29-$60) with Sarah Lazaro last spring.

Christopher Collins boutique

Photography courtesy Erica Tanamachi

The newly-opened boutique from San Francisco native Christopher Collins takes its cues from the pages of history – and we’re not just talking about the clothes, the best of which amp up highly wearable silhouettes with dramatic details culled from fashion’s past.

Quite literally, the pages of fashion’s past have a presence in the local designer’s Tendernob boutique, thanks to walls papered with the style sections of newspapers hailing from the early 20th century and before.

The Charisma pull-on boot by Dekkori

Photography courtesy of Dekkori

If the shoe fits, wear it, they say. We’d wager a more important factor is how that shoe looks. But that line of thinking can lead to crippling outcomes – and not just for your toes.

For Stephanie Kim, a fascination with fabulous footwear almost jeopardized the contents of her kitchen cabinets.

The new, unisex San Francisco Summer Scarf by Distilled marks the beginning of the local label’s move toward women’s clothing.

Photography courtesy of Distilled

When we were lucky enough to get our hot little hands on the brand new San Francisco Summer Scarf from local label Distilled last week, smug triumph ensued almost as soon as we wrapped up in the lightweight, casually-crinkled cotton number.

Menswear by Academy of Art University alum Chelsea Rae Snyder will be part of tonight’s show.

Photography courtesy of Del Geronimo via The Lab.

A sudden spate of disrobing at the corner of 16th and Capp Streets isn’t something we’d normally want to see on a Friday night, but leave it to The Lab to convince us otherwise.