January 2012MAC Sells LocalKeith BurbankDrawn to a “hub of creativity and product” – where products are created and made in the same community – Modern Appealing Clothing opened its second store in San Francisco last May in Dogpatch’s Yellow Building. Launched as a family business more than thirty years ago at 387 Grove Street, MAC is committed to clothing and products “that honor and respect the hands that make them. We pay tailor’s wages to several producers in Dogpatch,” said Chris Ospital, who co-owns the store with her brother, Ben, and mother, Jeri. Jeri has been involved in every aspect of the business, but is now retired. “We vet every single manufacturer,” said Ben, “so we can sell things we believe in. It’s important that we honor (the) process. Hands make clothes.” MAC “puts a focus on things being made here,” he said. “Clothing is no different than the farmer. It makes the tomato more precious.” MAC offers clothes made in San Francisco, as well as in Scotland, Tokyo, Belgium, and France, among other places. “Fifty percent of the clothes we sell in the Dogpatch store are made in San Francisco, in particular in Dogpatch,” Ben said. MAC relies on reclaimed materials to furnish its store, from the floors to the clothing displays. The rug in front of the show room’s couch is made of Ben’s worn-out business suits. “A local weaver,” Valerie Gnadt, “did that,” Ben said. The sibling-owners have served on the board of Creative Growth Art Center – which assists adult artists with disabilities – for a quarter-century. The center provides its clients with “…a professional studio environment...gallery exhibition and representation, and a social atmosphere among peers,” according to its website. A bright, colorful, and comfortable chair in MAC is the work of four Creative Growth artists. Our store is really “a response to what are values are,” Ben said. “This is the last neighborhood where things are made,” Chris added.
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