Fashion Design Finds New Market in San Francisco

San Francisco is known for its support of the creative arts, including fashion design. Now it's taking that innovative spirit even further, and catering to an upscale population of Pacific Rim travelers by bringing couture to airport shopping.

A Breath of Fresh Air

If you find yourself at San Francisco International Airport anytime soon and feeling like shopping, you will find a bit more than the standard "I Left My Heart in San Francisco" keychain. You'll find, among other high-end retailers, a brand new boutique with very famous fashion letters on the outside: Gucci.
From sunglasses priced at $700 to a very "icy" watch worth almost $1,900, the Gucci store at SFO offers something new to San Francisco travelers. Merging travel with couture, fashion design is reaching newer exposure in markets that may seem strange, but are catching on.
And it's not as if there isn't an audience waiting. Over 1.4 million people were expected to travel through SFO between mid-December and early January.

An Art-Minded City

This latest phenomenon is just one addition to the already brimming fashion scene in San Francisco. The City by the Bay is home to several top fashion schools, a fashion district, a bustling downtown retail scene, and now, a very fashion-conscious airport.
Many fashion design school students choose San Francisco because it is one of the West Coast's premier centers of design. All types of design school students--fashion, graphic design, art, interior design--can be found there. This art-minded city uses all its resources (even its airport) to promote fashion and design.
Source
Inside Bay Area, "High fashion lands at San Francisco International"

Joe Cooper is a freelance education and technology writer and edits medical literature. He holds a bachelor's in American Literature from UCLA.