• Bay Area indie fashion takes hits but keeps going: San Francisco Fashion Week was canceled after four years because of financial problems. Several indie boutiques went under, including the hip boutiques 22 Shoes and Built by Wendy. On the other hand, GenArt and the big Academy of Art University student show went on, and in a fashion first, AAU graduate fashion student Sarah Haggberg brought her thesis to life by producing a runway show in Sonoma. San Francisco’s new first lady, Jennifer Siebel, left, was one to watch; she vows to wear more local, indie designers.

• Union Square boom: Luxury retailers opened big boutiques. Prada and Gucci and DeBeers came in, as did Tory Burch, among others.
• A gala first: Arts patron Yurie Pascarella, far left, usually decked out in Oscar de la Renta for the San Francisco Ballet gala, wore a dress created by an amateur seamstress, Danielle Santos, left, a member of the corps de ballet.
• H&M stampede: The Powell Street store was only one of a few in the country to get the Comme des Garçons capsule collection last month, and about 600 shoppers raced through the doors when they opened to score the quirky, artsy line by Rei Kawakubo.
• Levi’s comeback?: It was still up and down for Levi’s - but on the street, the famous seagull logo is cool once again (and seen on many of the main characters in the hit movie “Milk.”)

[Read Full Article & List by Sylvia Rubin, Fashion Editor at The San Francisco Chronicle]