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A Few Among Many

Locals who make what we wear

A A A Comments By THEO DOUGLAS Thursday, May 11 2006

Taylor: Holding his own. Photo courtesy Craig Taylor

Taylor's mocha latte blouse is a sheer stunner on Jen. Photo by Matt Otto. Makeup: Bill Child

Mignogna is a Zayd blazer and tie. Photo by Matt Otto

Becker and Holland in their own designs. Photo courtesy rszt

Kristen and Shane in rszt, plus an Emily Howell cuff on her. Photo by Matt Otto. Makeup: Bill Child

Designer Jen Johnson

Emily Howell wears one of her own necklaces. Photo by Matt Otto. Makeup: Bill Child

Designer Sean Woolsey in a Status Foe tee. Photo by Matt Otto

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Status Foe, the Anaheim label with which Sean Woolsey began his fashion career four years ago in his parents' garage, is the vehicle by which he, at 22, seeks to redefine what we want—instead of selling us what we know. It would sell, Woolsey says, but instead he tries to improve the familiar—jeans and a polo, perhaps—and take it upmarket.

Consider his new lattice-weave jeans, which have no side seam, crooked front well pockets that are deservedly full of themselves and a back pocket entirely crocheted from strips of fabric. They're crisp and, though slightly faded and distressed, look freshly made. "People really seem to be getting out of the whole 'destroyed' thing," Woolsey says—and into something that, while not wholly dressy, isn't holey either. It shows you tried.

Similarly, Status Foe's polo shirts—like its denim, evocative of the late '70s—walk the line between Ralph Lauren and rugby. They're horizontally striped, sure, but the attention to detail in each hand-sewn stripe makes them that much more personal. The same is true of the obligatory T-shirts, which are updated with sewn-in patchwork graphics and pockets on the "wrong" side: the right. And nowhere is there a logo.

"We don't really have a logo," says Woolsey. "We don't want to be one of those companies where everything's branded." The idea is designer clothes, not designer advertisements.

For information, visit www.statusfoe.com. (Alex Brant-Zawadzki)

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