For those of us with high hopes for the state of San Francisco’s fashion reputation, Jill Giordano and Brian Scheyer are the couple to watch. Since launching gr.dano in 2006, the design duo has grown from a small upstart line to one garnering national attention. Season after season, they produce neutral-hued, architecturally-inspired women’s apparel in versatile yet structurally sophisticated silhouettes, right from their SoMa studio. Their latest coup? Joining the ranks of past recipients (such as Rodarte and Trina Turk) as fashion honorees in this year’s California Design Biennial, on view at the Pasadena Museum of California Art through Oct. 31.

As partners, how similar is your fashion sense?
BS: We agree on almost everything, don’t you think?

JG: No, but we pull the best out of each other’s design ideas and push them to a place neither of us could have gone to on our own.

What’s an essential wardrobe staple every San Franciscan should have?
BS: Accept that it’s cold nine months out of the year in San Francisco, and invest in an amazing coat.

If you were a fabric, what would you be?
BS: Probably that stuff they make disposable diapers out of.