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Exploring “The Home of Cashmere”

Scotland’s storied legacy of cashmere continues with the highly skilled artisans of Begg x Co.

Alex Begg began producing hand-woven shawls in the Scottish town of Paisley in 1862, until relocating his cashmere factory to Ayr, also known as “The Home of Cashmere”, 40 years later. Today, Begg x Co continues this tradition under the leadership of Ian Laird by creating responsible cashmere knitwear in both Ayr and Hawick in the Scottish Borders.

While the current Begg x Co Mills have been producing cashmere for over a decade; many of the Begg x Co craftspeople have been working with the company for over 40 years. After starting with scarves and shawls, in 2019 Begg x Co expanded their offering and began making garments. To achieve some of the softest cashmere on the market, Begg x Co has their natural environment to thank. The mist generated by the Firth of Clyde, and regular rainfall from the lush Ayrshire hills, creates soft water ideal for creating the kind of cashmere we want to live in all season.

Inspired by the innate contrast of Scotland’s sweeping natural beauty and gritty urban centers, Begg x Co’s team is powered by the ideals of craftsmanship, responsibility and authenticity. Prioritizing comfort and color in both design and production, Begg x Co creates cashmere for those who celebrate boldness and self expression in their everyday lives.

A heritage brand at heart, the techniques used by Begg x Co are the same that have been used for hundreds of years within the knitwear industry. “My whole family has worked in the cashmere industry here for hundreds of years. I’ve still got a lot of vintage pieces from my grandfather, who was a hand-intarsia knitter. It’s in my blood,” says Creative Director Angela Bell. Every Begg x Co piece is hand-finished by highly skilled artisans for whom the trade has been passed down through generations.

Combining long established techniques with cutting-edge technology, each Begg x Co fiber is traceable from goat to garment. While technical innovations are used, these garments are still crafted by artisans: creating one cardigan requires 20 pairs of hands and 19 processes. In their fabrication, attention to detail is everything: one misstep can take Begg x Co artisans back to square one.

In addition to their commitment to craftsmanship, Begg x Co is also committed to the natural environment. In 2021, Begg x Co aligned their business objectives with that of the UN Sustainable Development Goals, and now publishes a yearly report on their environmental and social responsibility as a company. In 2024, Begg x Co became a registered B Corp, joining nearly 9,000 businesses working towards social good.

Explore Begg x Co
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Toogood FW24: The Urbanist’s Adventure
Exploring “The Home of Cashmere”
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Exploring “The Home of Cashmere”
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Behind the Seams: Distressed Denim
The Journey of a Handbag
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The Journey of a Handbag
Echoes of Antiquity
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Echoes of Antiquity
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Behind the Seams: Distressed Denim

This week we explore the origin story of distressed denim, how it’s made and its best iterations. 

Origins of Distressed Denim

Legend has it that a 1970 Ian Tyas photograph of British artist and activist Caroline Coon, wearing patched jeans with a scarf tied at her waist, is responsible for inspiring a generation of designers to create distressed denim.

Others attribute its popularity to 1975 when the punk movement exploded across the United States, Great Britain and Australia. In the U.S., punk was inextricable from the literary rock scene based around Manhattan’s CBGB, where the Patti Smith Group and Television performed.

Around the same time, industry disruptors Adriano Goldschmied and François Girbaud began experimenting with ways to transform denim in the wash — the latter throwing skateboard wheels and beach sand into dryers to achieve the perfect finish. 

In the ‘80s, Renzo Rosso, Diesel’s founder, sent a box of distressed denim to retailers in Japan, who sent the jeans back. They thought Renzo had sent them used merchandise. Today’s Creative Director at Diesel, Glen Martens, explains that distressed jeans “symbolize disruption, empower the wearer and allow for the individualization of a core style.”

How It’s Made 

For some, buying raw denim and wearing the jeans into oblivion, earning natural rips and tears along the way, is a right of passage. In the ’60s, it was not uncommon to see “shrink to fit” styles worn while swimming in the ocean, to achieve the perfect salt-washed finished. For others, the thought of breaking in stiff denim over the course of a decade sounds like a nightmare. That’s why denim companies have developed complex and hyper specialized methods for distressing jeans. 

In the early days, companies used sandblasting and pumice stone-tumbling in their production practices. After learning about the harmful effects of these methods on both people and the planet, many companies today employ hand sanding and lasers, which burn whiskers and holes into jeans without using any water.

Lasers

In recent years, laser technology has grown tremendously. A laser beam can create virtually any wash pattern. Because no water or chemicals are used in the process, this is a much more environmentally conscious practice.

Hand Sanding

Trained craftspeople use sandpaper and sanding blocks to abrade the denim and remove layers of color. Sometimes, they use a mold to create the appearance of creases. It is a much more expensive process as new molds are created for every wash.

Meet Your Match

In today’s market, there is a wide range of meticulously crafted denim finishes and washes to choose from. Explore our offering of denim from Japan, Germany, Brazil, the U.S. and Italy. 

Dark Denim

Preserving the look of raw or untreated denim, these styles allow for more movement than their untreated counterparts.

Light Touch Denim

With much of the original stitching and indigo intact, these styles offer a slightly lived-in look — while still suiting a classic sensibility.

Lived-In Denim

Celebrating the patina of wear-on-repeat denim, these styles offer both endless comfort and an unmatched cool factor.

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Behind the Seams: Distressed Denim
The Journey of a Handbag
Handbags
The Journey of a Handbag
Echoes of Antiquity
Prounis
Echoes of Antiquity
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The Journey of a Handbag

Exploring Métier’s commitment to excellence.

Métier is one of the most refined and deliberate handbag companies on the market, thanks to its designer-founder Melissa Morris who describes herself as “passionate about creating elegant solutions for modern problems.” After ending up on the subway floor struggling to find her belongings in giant tote bags, Melissa set out to design a laptop-friendly handbag that could take her from day to night.

Inspired by vintage cars, such as the Alfa Romeo Spider, and watches from the 1960s, including the Rolex Pan AM GMT Master — the first watch to tell time across two time zones with the turn of a dial — every Métier piece is designed for travel, ease of use and to meet a specific need. 

Métier’s bags are lined with alcantara, a microfiber known for its sturdiness and used in collectible vintage cars. Inspired by Melissa’s favorite wine, a rich Northern Italian red, Métier’s signature color Amarone, took nine months of lab testing to perfect.

Melissa’s designs are executed with the precision of a seasoned architect. Lightweight yet built to last, Métier bags have up to 300 unique patterns of varying leather thicknesses under the surface. Each has a rounded base, to graze the body like a pillow. All of the brand’s hardware, which looks more like fine jewelry than clasps and locks, is made to measure from solid brass. 

Much like Bauhaus furniture design, each Métier piece is designed to modularly work with the rest of the collection. Bags can be built upon or reduced to a small portfolio while the brand’s wallets slip effortlessly into packing pouches they produce.

Melissa finds a well of inspiration in her own travels, which she does often for work and pleasure. “I love observing different ways to approach the world and different ways to communicate. I am inspired by the different ways that exist to design buildings, roads or even signs… it’s something we take for granted, but each culture has really developed their own way, something I find fascinating,” she says.

A stickler for quality and longevity, Melissa ensures that every Métier bag is built to last: testing each in an Italian facility that simulates 20 years of use; including wind, rain and 22 pounds of stones.

Explore Métier
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Toogood FW24: The Urbanist’s Adventure
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The Journey of a Handbag
Echoes of Antiquity
Prounis
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Echoes of Antiquity

Excavating jewelry of the Ancient Mediterranean with Tovi Farber, Jean Prounis and Denise Betesh.

Jewelry as Protection

In ancient times, jewelry was often revered not just as ornamentation, but as a talismanic shield against harm, illness and the unseen dangers of the natural world. This was particularly crucial during life’s pivotal moments—birth, puberty, marriage, pregnancy, and death—when individuals confronted the uncertainties of transition.

For Tovi Farber, working with the materials of antiquity presents both a challenge and an opportunity—a chance to explore and reimagine ancient jewelry traditions while still honoring their deep historical roots.

An Expression of Affection

In the ancient world, tokens of affection were tangible expressions of love, given to lovers, family, or friends. These keepsakes, often adorned with depictions of love deities like Eros and Aphrodite or inscribed with sentimental messages, served as poignant reminders of the giver, especially after death.

Ancient Greek and Byzantine jewelry conventions echo throughout Jean Prounis’ jewelry. Her choice of 22K gold is rooted in antiquity – a karat prized across centuries for its luster and malleability. Each piece of Jean’s jewelry is hand-wrought using ancient goldsmithing techniques, with granulation worthy of Empress Theodora.

Practical Use

Jewelry in antiquity also served practical purposes. Before the advent of pockets or buttons, golden clasps were used to fasten garments. Engraved signet rings, made of gold, doubled as seals, merging utility with aesthetic appeal.

Denise Betesh uses a delicate and detailed process used since the third millennium BC by eastern Mediterranean goldsmiths to create her signature gold links. Denise mills and draws the gold, then fuses individual tiny granules of gold onto the surface of the metal without solder. Using a hand-turned rolling mill to make the wire that becomes the individual links, each chain takes between 15 and 30 hours to complete.

Valuable Offerings

Some jewelry transcended its role as personal adornment, finding its place as offerings to the divine. Ceremonial pieces were often dedicated in sanctuaries or placed in graves as tributes to the gods. At Hera’s sanctuary in Argos, Greece, rings—mostly bronze—were common dedications, with gold rings some of the most rare and precious offerings made to the goddess.

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Echoes of Antiquity
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What are Denim Weights and Why do they Matter?

A brief history of denim and our guide to the perennial textile’s varying weights.

Blue jeans, a textile inextricable from the American fashion industry, find their origins in Italy and France. The “jean” fabric, originally an indigo-coloured cotton-and-linen canvas fabric, was first used by the Genoese Navy in the 16th century. “Denim”, formerly a twill canvas woven from wool and silk, comes from the French city of Nîmes. In 1873, the American blue jean was born when Levi Strauss and Jacob Davis obtained a U.S. patent on the process of putting rivets in men’s work pants.

Raw denim, also known as dry denim, is denim in its purest form. Today, it is categorized by weight, and ounce per square yard is the standard measure. 

Completely untreated, raw denim feels stiff at first but relaxes over time. Most jeans on the market today have undergone a pre-washing process, to soften the fabric, or are preshrunk to reduce shrinkage post-wear and wash.

Denim weight ranges from lightweight to heavyweight, with differentiation in between. 

1. Lightweight Denim – Less Than 12 Oz.

Naturally, a lighter fabric makes for a lighter jean. Lighter fabrics break in more easily, are softer and therefore more comfortable to wear from the start.

Lightweight denim in the 9–10 oz. range is ideal for summer and vacation use, while denim enthusiasts describe 11–12 oz. jeans as the ideal year-round weight for almost everyone. 

2. Mid-weight – Between 12 Oz. – 16 Oz.

While mid and heavyweight denim require more effort, they also offer a return on that time spent breaking them in. Denim that is slightly heavier will form to the wearer’s body over time, creating “whiskers”, fading and other love-marks that are unique to the wearer. 

3. Heavyweight – Above 16 Oz.

Heavyweight jeans can run up to an astounding 32 ounces. Heavyweight jeans are significantly less wearable — some can stand up on their own! — than light and midweight jeans. Industrial workers and motorcyclists may prefer heavyweight denim for its strength and durability.

Care Tips: Hang your jeans instead of folding them. Wash inside out only when needed (denim experts recommend only three times a year), and repair whenever you first start to see a hole forming. 

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Suzusan: A Family Legacy of Craft

Hiroyuki Murase carries on the family tradition of Arimatsu-Narumi shibori technique with the high craft of his label Suzusan.

Suzusan was born in the Japanese town of Arimatsu, located between Tokyo and Kyoto. For over 100 years the Murase family has been creating textiles using the Arimatsu-Narumi shibori technique.

Hiroyuki Murase, the creative director of Suzusan, is the eldest son of the Murase family and a fifth generation artisan. He was taught the art of Arimatsu-Narumi shibori by his father Hiroshi.

Originating in Nagoya, Arimatsu-Narumi shibori is a designated national traditional craft. While Japan has a long history of Shibori tie-dyeing, the artisans of Arimatsu developed and refined the art into a sophisticated, decorative process.

The word shibori comes from the verb “shiboru,” which in Japanese means to wring, press or squeeze. Fittingly, Hiroyuki Murase explains that there are three main steps to the process: tying, stitching and pressing.

For centuries, the Arimatsu-Narumi shibori technique was widely used to dye cotton cloth used for summer kimonos (yukata). Folding, tying off, or sewing parts of the textile’s surface before dyeing it creates unique color gradients, contrasts and in some cases three-dimensional structures.

Any fabric treated in this way will typically pass through four or five artisans. However, the Arimatsu-Narumi shibori industry has been declining due, in part, to changing lifestyles in the region resulting in a decrease in the number of Arimatsu-Narumi shibori methods.

In 1608, more than 10,000 shibori craftsmen and women were employed in the village. By 2008, there were only 200 shibori craftspeople left in Arimatsu. Hiroyuki Murase explains, “My dad said to me, ‘In 15 years, you will not see any craftsmen here if it continues like this. The shibori craft is dying out.’ Whenever a family or craftsman stops, a technique is lost.” 

After studying art at the University for the Creative Arts in Farnham, Surrey, and at the Kunstakademie, in Düsseldorf in the early 2000s, Hiroyuki decided he could not stand idly by while an important piece of his family’s heritage fell into obscurity.

In 2008, exactly 400 years after shibori reached the height of its production in Arimatsu, Hiroyuki Murase founded the Suzusan label in Düsseldorf, with the intention of placing Japanese handicraft in a contemporary context.

Executing the technique on precious fabrics in modern silhouettes, Hiroyuki has also encouraged younger generations of artisans to learn and practice this time-honored craft. 

“In an age when everything can be made quickly and precisely, people may be attracted to the warmth and value of our products, which take a lot of time and labor to make and may not have a uniform finish.”

—Hiroyuki Murase
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Beauty of the Senses: In Conversation with Kaval

Five questions for Kaval’s lead designer.

From a person who is notoriously private — Kaval’s designer aims not to take interest away from their collectible pieces — we learned more about Kaval’s process and world view. Every piece of Kaval is made in their small factory located in Tochigi, Japan, where they weave and dye their own fabric. Over time, Kaval has mastered the use of ancestral Japanese indigo (Persicaria Tinctoria) to dye and create pieces with a true artisanal artistry. Each piece is sewn by hand and finished using antique sewing machines that lend a particularly romantic, yet intellectual, aesthetic to the garments.

What, or who, is your greatest source of inspiration?

Everyday life, sounds, scents, nature, longing, people, animals.

Technology, skills, folk art, crafts, history, art, and many other categories spring up spontaneously.

What is your process for weaving and dyeing your fabric?

Universe, Infinite, Imagination.

What attracts you to ceramic buttons?

They are made entirely by hand in our atelier. Pottery buttons are not always neatly shaped, and the shape can be subtly distorted. If the glaze is not applied evenly, there can be variations in the finished product. I think this is what makes them unique and attractive, just like people.

What do antique sewing machines offer your creative process that modern machines cannot?

There are many sewing machines that cannot be manufactured today.
There is more to a machine than just human skill.
Even a single buttonhole is different.
It helps me to imagine details, etc.

How do you recommend our clients best care for your pieces?

Varies depending on the material, but hand-washing and sun-drying is recommended.

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See All This: Summer 2024

A Global Shopper’s Address Book: Curated by Philip Fimmano

Santa Fe Dry Goods — New Mexico

Bringing together the world’s most intriguing fashion and interior brands in the heart of Santa Fe, this risk-taking store has the best buy in garments, accessories and home goods, combining high quality with remarkable taste for a discerning clientele.

(Kipos Claudia Blouse by Rianna + Nina)

Explore See All This: Summer 2024

IFAM Speaker Series: Not To Be Missed

Don’t miss these premiere designers at this year’s edition of the International Folk Art Market (IFAM).

Program curated and moderated by Philip Fimmano. For more details visit folkartmarket.org/tickets.

2024 IFAM Speaker Series

In celebration of the 20th edition of the International Folk Art Market (IFAM), the annual speakers series takes its cue from the broad Indigenous worldview that time is cyclical and circular. In this context, a non-linear approach will be used to simultaneously discuss the past, present and future of folk art.

One of the world’s leading indigo dyers, Aboubakar Fofana is currently working to reinvigorate indigenous West African indigo farming in Mali.

Friday, July 12 at 10am: Aboubakar Fofana

Born in Mali and raised in France, Aboubakar Fofana is a multidisciplinary artist and designer whose working mediums include calligraphy, textiles, and natural dyes. He is known for his efforts to reinvigorate, redefine and preserve West African textile and indigo dyeing techniques.

Aboubakar began his artistic journey with calligraphy, which lead him to wonder about traditions similar to this in Africa and to learn about natural textile dyeing. His work stems from a profound spiritual belief that nature is divine and that through respecting this divinity we can understand the immense and sacred universe. Aboubakar uses raw materials from the natural world, and his working practice revolves around the cycles of nature, the themes of birth, decay and change, and the impermanence of these materials.

Aboubakar is currently deeply involved in creating a farm in conjunction with the local community in the district of Siby, Mali, in which the two types of indigenous West African indigo will be the centerpiece for a permaculture model based around local food, medicine and dye plants. This project hopes to contribute to the rebirth of fermented indigo dyeing in Mali and beyond and represents Aboubakar’s greatest project to date.

Tickets
Natalie Chanin’s slow fashion has not only inspired thousands to take up the craft, but also revitalized the textile industry in rural Alabama.

Saturday, July 13 at 2pm: Natalie Chanin

Founded by Natalie Chanin, Alabama Chanin maintains its headquarters in a former textile factory. Located in Florence, Alabama, the brand collaborates with independently contracted seamstresses and tailors, which has helped to revive the textile industry in the area. 

Ultimately, the venture was inspired by Natalie’s Grandmothers. Growing up she realized that anything could be handmade, and the few store-bought items in her grandparents’ closets were made to last. For this reason, Alabama Chanin has been committed to sustainable design. They work hard to preserve handcrafted traditions while producing locally and ethically, with the highest possible quality standards.

Tickets
Toogood FW24: The Urbanist’s Adventure
Toogood FW24: The Urbanist’s Adventure
Exploring “The Home of Cashmere”
cashmere
Exploring “The Home of Cashmere”
Introducing Karen Liberman
Karen Liberman
Introducing Karen Liberman
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Behind the Seams: Distressed Denim
The Journey of a Handbag
Handbags
The Journey of a Handbag
Echoes of Antiquity
Prounis
Echoes of Antiquity
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All About Beryls

The beryl family includes some of the world’s most beloved gemstones. Here, we explore the rich history of beryls and their captivating brilliance.

Both aquamarines and emeralds belong to the beryl family, however, it does not stop there. Below you will find the types of beryls and a bit about each.

Beloved Beryls: Golden Emeralds from Lika Behar

Beryl consists of the elements beryllium, aluminum, silicon, and oxygen. Normally colorless, beryls take on colors from a variety of trace elements such as chromium and iron. Beryls can range from colorless to black, and crystals can range in size from single carats to extremely large and flawless examples found in museums.

Emerald

Emeralds are perhaps the most widely known variety of beryl. Their rich green color, caused by traces of chromium and vanadium, has made them desirable for centuries. Colombian emeralds are amongst the most sought after.

Aquamarine

Literally translating to ‘sea water’, aquamarine is colored by iron and occurs naturally as a pale, bluish-green color. In the 19th century, blue-green aquamarines were preferred but now, stones are usually heat treated to remove the green hue, thus producing a purer blue color. The more intense the blue color, the higher the value.

Heliodor and Golden Beryl

Both heliodor and golden beryl are yellow in color, but the former often has a hint of green while the latter is a saturated yellow to orangey-yellow. Both are colored by iron. 

Morganite

Named after the 19th century banker and gemstone enthusiast J.P. Morgan, morganite is the pink to orangey-pink member of the beryl family colored by manganese. 

Goshenite

Goshenite is colorless, a beryl in its purest form. It was named after Goshen, Massachusetts where it was first discovered. 

Red Beryl 

So rare that it is more of a collector’s stone than one used in jewelry, red beryl is also known as bixbite. The only place this raspberry to deep rose red stone is found in gem quality is the Wah Wah Mountains of Utah.

Pezzottaite

Discovered in 2003 and named after gemologist Federico Pezzotta, pezzottaite is a rare pinkish-red to pink gemstone. It does not often appear in jewelry – several of the mines where it has been unearthed are now exhausted.

Explore our selection of beryls online and in store at Santa Fe Dry Goods.

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Toogood FW24: The Urbanist’s Adventure
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cashmere
Exploring “The Home of Cashmere”
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Karen Liberman
Introducing Karen Liberman
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Behind the Seams: Distressed Denim
The Journey of a Handbag
Handbags
The Journey of a Handbag
Echoes of Antiquity
Prounis
Echoes of Antiquity
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Hole & Corner: Backyard Bill in Santa Fe

Shopping with soul: six collectors explain why they keep returning to IFAM Santa Fe and why making a stand against homogenization is so important…

Shobhan Porter, store owner

What do you do?
I own and buy for three retail stores in Santa Fe, New Mexico: Workshop, Santa Fe Dry Goods and Wild Life.

Tell us about your favourite pieces…
The large indigo bedspread was made by master dyer Aboubakar Fofana, from Mali. I think it is outstanding because he achieved a three-dimensionality to what is a two-dimensional object. But what captures my heart and eyes is the intensity of the mid-tone blue. It has its own voice. The three blue embroideries were hand-stitched by two really amazing craftswomen from Laos. The work is highly detailed, the colours have incredible depth, but what I like most is that the design is so universal that I can combine those pieces with items from any other part of the world and they work together. These three pieces speak a universal language. The last two pieces are vintage African mud cloth that have been in my family for the past 30 years.

What is it that makes Santa Fe unique?
Santa Fe is particularly special because it is still an artist colony that prides itself on individuality, freedom and creativity. This doesn’t leave much room for the homogenization that exists in many other places. The market is unique because it celebrates art that retains an earthiness – even if it is perfectly constructed. The artists still focus on historical, deeply-rooted aesthetics and methods. There is a lot of soul; we forgo gloss for authenticity.

How long have you been visiting and what were your first impressions? 
I’ve been attending the Folk Art Market since I moved back to Santa Fe in 2008. It is a cheerful event
that reminds the consumer that art, textiles, clothing and décor are made by people; and, these days, we should be willing to pay a premium for what is often a dying art.

What would be your dream find?
I am always searching for something that is so beautiful it makes me cry… a piece of art that sings with human ingenuity and a good heart.

Read the full article

Washington Post: May 2024

The designer who wants to change the way you think about clothes.

Evan Kinori mentions Santa Fe Dry Goods as an outpost of pleasure and for a particular way of thinking and shopping that is not only more “sustainable” but also more beautiful.

Evan Kinori at his exhibition at JDJ Gallery in Manhattan, featuring his clothing and furniture. (Makeda Sandford for The Washington Post)

By Rachel Tashjian

The ultimate takeaway from Kinori’s show is that our relationship to desire — to wanting clothes, to seeking them out, to keeping them — is broken. Many Kinori customers talk about the system that his clothing inhabits, how it all looks so good together and changes so infrequently, making it easier to get dressed but also, in the beauty of its design and execution, offers continual pleasure.

Kinori is not the only figure in fashion with this philosophy, though he is one of its most outspoken. Stoffa, Casey Casey, Paul Harnden and Lauren Manoogian also take an obsessively alternative approach to making and marketing clothes — a category often referred to as slow fashion. Stores like Worthwhile in Charleston, S.C., C’H’C’M in New York, Santa Fe Dry Goods in New Mexico and Reliquary in San Francisco (which was the first store to carry Kinori’s clothes) function almost as outposts for this way of thinking and shopping. Many of these names have flown under the radar for years, though its wearers often run the risk of fetishizing them.

Read the full article

House Beautiful: September 2023

The Best Home Stores in America Right Now, According to Editors

Best Glassware

The hip shop sells clothes from independent designers, while its artisan arm, Wild Life, stocks handmade glass, ceramics, and more.

—House Beautiful
Read the full article

Introducing: Ziggy Chen

Shanghai-born designer Ziggy Chen launched his namesake label in 2012 with the goal of crafting a line that blends modern elegance with practicality.

After studying fashion in the early 1990s, Ziggy Chen became a university lecturer on the subject of textile design. He then worked on the corporate side of fashion. After 20 years in the industry, at the age of 40, Ziggy gave himself permission to pursue his wildest dreams: venturing out to design his own clothing collection.

In 2013, Ziggy decided to produce his own custom fabrics, with a penchant for the natural fibers of wool, cotton, hemp and linen. Developing his designs starting from the perspective of how they will lay on the body, Ziggy believes the comfort of the wearer is his highest priority.

Inspired by his studies of history, architecture, photography and painting, Ziggy Chen’s aesthetic is primarily shaped by his understanding of the past and his appreciation for objects that transcend time. He explains, “Some [objects] are housed in majestic and splendid museums, others are buried in flea markets, but all of these things have one thing in common: they have a beauty that we cannot see in this day and age.” 

With a throughline of both material innovation and high quality fabrics, each of Ziggy Chen’s collections build upon the designer’s prior seasons. Ziggy is particularly interested in the lived-in patina of unpretentious antique furniture and textiles. He notes a particular fondness for both Eastern and Western clothing from the 17th and 18th centuries, whose techniques are nearly unmatched by those produced in modern times.

Shirking a precious notion of perfection, Ziggy explains “Much of my inspiration for patterns and details in my clothing comes from tools, pottery, textiles and furniture that have been used, deformed, and broken down over time.”

For Ziggy Chen’s latest delivery, the designer has mined ancient books and antique fabrics from his private collection — cutting and reassembling them — to create unique prints on both the interior and exterior of his pieces. By yarn-dying and over-dyeing his expertly cut fabrics, Ziggy creates highly dimensional pieces that drape beautifully on the body.

“Rather than creating clothes that make you feel like someone else – for example, when you wear something and you immediately feel like you’re a different person – I want the clothes to feel like a part of you.”

-Ziggy Chen

Veranda Magazine: December 2023

Veranda Magazine names Santa Fe Dry Goods as a must-visit store in Santa Fe.

How to Spend a Perfect Weekend in Santa Fe, New Mexico

Santa Fe Regional Airport welcomes just a handful of flights each day. Since the vast majority of visitors connect somewhere else and have spent most of the travel day living off in-flight coffee and cookies, food is typically the first thing on their minds. Before heading to a late lunch, drop your bags at Rosewood Inn Of the Anasazi, a true respite just off Santa Fe Plaza in the heart of downtown. Resist the urge to sink into a cozy chair by the fire in the library or your rustic-meets-refined room (there will be plenty of time for that later) because it’s time to eat.

Walk down the street to The Shed, an award-winning, family-run establishment that opened back in 1953 and continues to serve up some of the tastiest New Mexican cooking in the area. You can’t go wrong with the traditional posole. Be sure to save room for the tamales smothered in red and green chile sauce. Afterward, bop into some of the lovely curated shops — notably Los Poblanos Farm Shop Norte, Heritage By Hand, and Santa Fe Dry Goods.

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Santa Fe New Mexican: July 2018

Santa Fe Dry Goods owner opens third shop, with items for the home

The owner of Santa Fe Dry Goods and its neighbor, Workshop, two retail shops facing the Plaza on Old Santa Fe Trail, has added a third store: Wild Life.

By Joseph Ditzler

Wild Life specializes in handcrafted items for the home — tumblers by British glassblower Michael Ruh, tableware by Christiane Perrochon, ceramics by Astier de Villatte, for example.

“I would describe it as a focus on accessories for the home that have high levels of finishing but have their roots in cultures from around the world,” said company owner Shobhan Porter. “Nothing we’re trying to do is trying to be flashy in any way, shape or form. There’s always an earthy or artistic nature to what we bring in.”

Wild Life opened in March after a three-month restoration of the 2,000-square-foot space inside the Catron Block, a spot formerly occupied by Gift N’ Gourmet, which moved to Water Street and Old Santa Fe Trail. The interior restoration by contractor Douglas Maahs removed layers of wallpaper to reveal what’s left of the circa-1890s original wall covering, visible in remnants near the ceiling.

Outside, Maahs’ crew also uncovered four iron columns, two each flanking the entrances to Wild Life and Workshop, a women’s clothing and accessories store next door. Maahs reconfigured the two storefronts to suggest something of the original design of those spaces. The historic structure has undergone several alterations in its 127-year history, including the addition of the portal in the late 1960s.

“I would say the idea was to give it a flavor of the memory of what it was. In the original building, there were actually a downstairs, window wells and stairwells in the front. The stairs are still buried under the sidewalk,” Maahs said.

In addition to removing decades worth of wall covering, contractors lifted layers of flooring to get to the original surface of worn, narrow boards, Porter said. To reach it, workers removed a barn-style floor and one layer each of linoleum and tar. Earlier, Porter had stripped the layers of flooring in Workshop to find the original boards laid in a herringbone pattern.

“I think it’s one of two white pine floors in the city, but we wanted to get back to the uniformity and the handsomeness of what was that 1891 to 1912 look,” she said.

The renovations to the entrances at Wild Life and Workshop went through the review process by the city Historic Districts Review Board. The Catron Block is considered a “contributing structure,” meaning it adds to the historic context of the Santa Fe Downtown and Eastside Historic District. Despite the changing face of its first-story exterior, the Catron Block is the least altered of the buildings facing the Plaza in 1891, according to the Historic Santa Fe Foundation.

Porter declined to disclose the project cost, other than to say it represented a significant investment for a retail firm.

“There was a lot of interaction to get this right,” Maahs said. Porter’s drive to reveal the original interior design of her shops “was really the driving force” behind the project, he said.

The Catron Block, on the northeast side of the Plaza at East Palace Avenue, was completed in 1891 and named for the original owner, Thomas Benton Catron, a lawyer and politician who served as one of New Mexico’s first two U.S. senators after statehood.

“The Catron Block was built by the local firm of Berardinelli and Palladino in the Italianate, or, as it is sometimes called, the railroad commercial style, which in this period represented to Santa Fe’s business leaders the urgently needed modernization of the commerce district,” according to The Historic Santa Fe Foundation.

Retail has had a presence in the building from its early days. The White House, a women’s fashion store, opened on the building east front in 1912, according to the foundation website. Later, the site became The Guarantee, a department store owned and operated by Gene and Jane Petchesky and Abe and Marian Silver for more than 50 years. The Silver family still owns the building.

The highly trafficked corner naturally draws shoppers’ attention. With Wild Life, Porter now leases 10,000 square feet for the retail operation, including Dry Goods, a 26-year-old women’s fashion and accessories store, she said. She purchased the business in 2008 from her parents, Greig and Helga Porter. All three shops contribute to one lifestyle aesthetic, which emanates from Porter’s own vision.

“I’m a rummager. If I work a normal day job here, I probably spend an additional three to four hours every night looking,” she said.

She focuses expressly on handcrafted merchandise from independent designers and artisans, rather than brand-name goods from well-known manufacturers, she said.

“We try to bring in both clothing and home goods that are tied to art and maybe things that take you back to the people that make them,” Porter said. “We’re kind of counter-current. As the world goes toward commercialism, we’re trying to make our mark in the opposite vein.”

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