Anti-gentrification takes an ultra-ironic turn in the hipster-saturated Mission District

Get ready to find gold windbreakers more easily in
the Mission District. Fashion shoot with American
Apparel clothing by photographer Gabriel Moginot.

American Apparel opened stores in Palo Alto, Santa Cruz and even Berkeley, but the chain's San Francisco locations apparel-ently raise the most ire.

Bay Area foes of all things capitalist have turned their dagger-like glares toward already gentrified Valencia Street, where the clothier's next shop is set to open, to the delight of local ephebophiles.

Although I am obviously a blogger, I was not aware of the scope of the controversy until today, when I happened on an SF Weekly story describing the matter as "much blogged about." Whoops.

The news was a poorly attended protest of the store's planned opening, complete with a sign reading "No more hipster scum." That's intensely ironic given that the usual suspects at rallies in The City are beyond hippified, as are the young alternatoids who prowl the Mission and dress like walking billboards for the chain.

Pressure does seem to be mounting in the online world, where Stop American Apparel is leading the charge against the idea of scanty, '80s-style wares being sold next to Artists' Television Access.

ATA epitomizes the boho flavor of the neighborhood, at least pre-yuppification, describing itself as a "nonprofit, all-volunteer, artist-run, experimental media arts gallery that has been in operation since 1984."

I saw a film there about the Paris-centered Situationist International, a group of virulent anti-capitalists whose leader, Guy Debord, railed against "the principle of commodity fetishism, the domination of society by 'intangible as well as tangible things.'"

It makes your head spin trying to digest revolutionary philosophy when you're busy looking for a job, you know? But I recall that the documentary featured S.I. sympathizer and part-Frenchie Chloe Sevigny, so it at least had some eye candy going for it.

Anyhow, you can see where the commodity-fetish clothing shop is set to open via Google Maps' Street View; it's the former glass store at 988 Valencia St. Sorry I couldn't get the code to embed right. I'm looking at you, Google programmers.

Another protest was set for Thursday afternoon at a Planning Commission meeting where officials were set to allow or deny the chain entry to the street where grunge-style culture grew like mold in the mid-'90s, when I moved to the area.

That was before all those pioneer punks spent so much "disposable income" on the Latino strip that real estate and business speculators realized loft-dwellers would be the next logical community to infiltrate the setting, minutes from downtown.

Then there was the futile Anti-Displacement Movement, which attracted attention by trashing a few SUVs and painting graffiti on new live-work lofts. Somehow, development continued.

It wasn't long before fringe-type landmarks such as the Chameleon bar (originally Chatterbox, named for the New York Dolls song, and now Amnesia) and Leather Tongue Video were pushed out by trendy restaurants and much cleaner and upstanding, though not quite Blockbuster, DVD rental stores.

Neighborhood blog Mission Mission preserves some folk memories from those heady hipster days.

Still, Valencia Street remains home to many independent boutique stores. Yet the reality of having to sell things for a living while being outspokenly anti-chain -- even hip chains -- leaves many locals conflicted about American Apparel's appearance.

For example, as Mission Local reported:

Wayne Whelan sells American Apparel clothing at Therapy, his shop near 16th Street. Though he said the company’s products fit the neighborhood, its presence would welcome a host of other chain stores to also open shop.

“American Apparel in itself won’t affect the flavor of the community,” he said. “But it sets a precedent that will allow other big businesses to come here. Soon we’ll have Jamba Juices, Starbucks and Cheesecake Factories.”

Mission Mission recently posted American Apparel's response to the brouhaha positioning the brand as a force for good wherever it may roam:

Our first store was in Echo Park, a small artsy district of Los Angeles, which is a lot like the Mission. Since we opened the store in 2003, the neighborhood has flourished with new, independent businesses.

American Apparel is committed to the community, to ethics, and to leveraging art, design and technology. We ... frequently speak out on political issues that are important to us. For that reason, we respect the fact that your community activists are unsure about us moving into the neighborhood.

I can appreciate the confusion. When I lived at 21st and Valencia streets, near where the store wants to move, the feeling was both invigoratingly avant garde and unpleasantly grimy. There has been progress.

For example, the very nice capitalists who run Valencia Whole Foods at that intersection shared their success with residents, adding benches and outdoorsy, trompe l'oeil artwork along the sidewalk. They don't just sell organic goods to the crunchy natives but share their independent-business, anti-processed-food philosophy.

Ultimately, I traded the pricey lifestyle of the area, where I spent almost $200 a month for parking and almost $1,000 on rent, for smarter budgeting and convenience in the ultra-suburban East Bay.

I miss the vibe of the old 'hood, but I get to enjoy some more important things as a result: a serious relationship, easy access to hiking trails, and both a BevMo across the street and an absence of "independent" bottle recyclers waking me up at 3 a.m.

What I'm saying, I guess, is sometimes change is good. It's not always easy, but a new perspective can engender its own reward.

For more info: American Apparel ads delight in the youthful female form, including that of former adult movie star Sasha Grey, a Sacramento native who turns 21 next month. I coincidentally mentioned her here. Keep an eye on SFist for news on the store's opening.

Note: This post is twinned with my San Jose Culture Examiner post.