ANTELOPE
New store @ 973 Valencia.
Antelope… a great surprise we had while we took a walk on Valencia last Summer.
We fell right away for the bags, all of them! Actually, the whole selection is so sweet, stylish and graceful.
Sarah opened Antelope a few months ago. She made her own selection of bags, belts, jewelry, scarves choosing them among different brands from France, Europe and NY especially. And soon, she should even offer her own designed production.
Sarah was kind enough to answer our questions. She talks about her experience, her new life in SF, her great project and ... gives us some of her favorite addresses in San Francisco.
Sarah, please tell us about your own story since you left Paris, about your experience and your moving to SF.
I was an artistic director and textile designer in Paris for a long time and I really wanted to leave Paris and live abroad for a change of environment, to other experiences and even to see how people live in other cultures.
I also wanted to change jobs, or at least not to do my job as a designer in the same way.
So we decided with my husband who is American, to go live in San Francisco where he was born, for a few years.
The arrival has been magnificent in December after the cold of Paris. Suddenly the light and the sun in the middle of January!
The first two years went well, adaptation takes time to understand and speak the language, understand the codes of this new society, understand how things and relationships work, all this requires a lot of integration work.
And then slowly you realize that you can understand better and better, everything becomes easier and you start to enjoy the place.
I love the city of San Francisco, I find it very beautiful and original, open on nature, on the sea, the air smells good (which is not the case in Paris), you breathe well and quality of life is very good.
Tell us the story behind Antelope: the name, the location, the brands, the whole project.
We wanted to create an accessories brand et were thinking about it for a while when we had the opportunity to rent this nice space on Valencia st, where we could have our offices and a store that would serve as a springboard for this brand.
So we started Antelope, with the idea of developing an accessories shop for women, with a hint of european taste and where we would sell our own products in a few months, when the company will be created and the products manufactured.
The name Antelope came from a brainstorming session we did one night and it seemed to correspond fairly well to the universe and the style we wanted.
It sounds good, it seems a bit absurd and surrealist but in the meantime it gives you a lot of freedom to connect it to so many different influences, some exoticism, some refinement and subtlety, colors…
I wanted to create a place that caters to women a very feminine universe, a very feminine universe, with products just as we like them in Paris, charming, varied, that makes you dream, that makes you feel sexy and still makes you laugh.
I like to marry a wide variety of influences, orient and West, the classic with the most subversive, refined and expensive with the most popular and amusing things, colors and patterns with things more quiet, so I looked for products that express this.
Indian scarves from Yazer Shaw and others from Leigh & Luca, New York, very elegant bags from Nat & Nin, Paris, France, Brazilian bracelets and Mexican Huichol jewelry, oriental Tadé products for the bath and perfumes from CB I hate perfume, New York, belts and bags from the dutch brand Cowboysbag, some boxes, bags and colored patterns ceramics from Minilabo (exclusive for now) another trendy French brand ...
And our own collections, which should arrive in early 2014!
ANTELOPE
973 Valencia Street
11 a.m.-7 p.m.
Wednesday through Sunday
In the end, please give us some of your favorites spots in SF: food, fashion, hair salon...
I have several favorite restaurants at the moment, I like Contigo on Castro Street in Noe Valley, a Spanish restaurant with a Barcelona atmosphere where everything is good and I like the lively atmosphere of the place.
The second is Cassava, super nice staff, good food and not very expensive, a very good place for the weekend and lunch.
I love Foreign Cinema on Mission and Lolinda on Mission also, and then Lolo of course!
My favorite tea salon right now is in Japantown, Crown & Crumpet, very kawaii and girly, so exotic :)
My favorite coffee Ritual on Valencia, I also love for fine tea and a little different food, Samovar, there are several in the city, I like the one in the Castro.
A super good pastry shop is “B patisserie”, pastries are as good as in Paris.
And always, Craftsman & Wolves on Valencia and of course, for me the best croissants in San Francisco!
And yes, I have a hair stylist who is great in the lower Haight, Wackshack salon.
For clothing, I still haven't found a great store yet, but I like Dema on Valencia, she has a lot of nice things and also sells her own brand among others in her shop.
Find more details and contacts for all these great recommendations in LostinSF' useful addresses.
Restaurants in the Mission district.
Bakeries and pastry shops in SF
Coffees, expressos, cappucinos in SF
Neighborhood clothing boutiques
