Studio SKB focuses on sustainable fashion with a vintage touch: The dress that takes you from work to dinner and can be worn many ways. The jacket that helps you face the weather with style, year after year. The garment with fit, feel and flexibility – with the bonus of sustainable fibers.
For nearly two decades, part of StudioSKB’s profits have gone to purchase and protect wildlife habitat through The Nature Conservancy. The company’s logo — a leaf on a hanger — symbolizes this connection.
StudioSKB began more than 20 years ago as a custom clothing business. It has since become a recognized venue for quality apparel and apparel education (www.portlandsewing.com) and has been featured in national and local publications.
Studio SKB was founded by designer and educator Sharon Blair. In 2011, Sharon decided to use StudioSKB as a launching point for talented Portland designers.
Bryce Black was chosen to design the Fall 2011 line, Grey Gardens. He was featured in Sharon’s April 16 Garden Party Fashion Show. He carries on the tradition of sustainable fashion for the brand with his multi-purpose clothes. Bryce went on to win a spot on Project Runway, Season 9.
Joshua Buck designed the Fall 2012 menswear line for Studio SKB called Chicago Harper. Chicago Harper gives style and fit to any man who is looking to move up in his life and his career. Joshua’s line was featured in two fashion shows in September and October 2011.
Contact:
StudioSKB
P.O. Box 18147
Portland OR 97218
info@studioskb.com
Bryce Black
“I enjoy creating fashion that makes people think,” Bryce Black says. “Fashion should tell a story and spark emotion, from the first sketch to a person’s wardrobe.”
“The transitions taking place in the world around us should inform the choices we make in fashion,” he says. “That’s what I’ve seen in fashion through the ages.”
Black likes to meld the avant-garde into clothing and create high fashion art pieces that also are wearable. He is inspired by the designs of the late Alexander McQueen and McQueen’s effort to push the boundaries of what was once considered costume when creating fashion. Black’s avant-garde garments have appeared on the covers of magazines including Portland Monthly. Originally from Twin Falls, Idaho, he graduated from Art Institute of Portland with a degree in apparel design in 2010.
Joshua Buck
Joshua Buck has spent most of his life studying art. From childhood, he has painted, sculpted, made prints and collages. He arrived to fashion late. At age 15, he saw an editorial in Vogue magazine featuring Chinoiserie.
“It sounds cliche to say, but I felt transported to an exotic land where women wore beautifully embroidered columns in bias cut silk, with theatrically made up faces. Something like totems framing the entrance of the long house you always dreamt your life was supposed to be.
“It was the first time that I felt in a fashion context the same emotive characteristics that I cherished in art. You could see the pleasure in its creation, both from the perspective of an observer, and from the perspective of an artisan. It was the pleasure of exquisite craft.”
Joshua studied painting at Pratt Institute but became more interested in sculpture and performance art. He returned to clothing as a means to create a portable context for performance art.
He graduated from Art Institute of Portland with a degree in apparel design in 2008. He has appeared in several Portland-area fashion shows including Open Season, the Portland Mercury Fashion Show, Content and Portland Fashion Week.
Chicago Harper: Tradition updated. Engineered for fit. Detailed fearlessly.
