Wilkes Bashford was a clothing retailer headquartered in
San Francisco
San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...
,
California
California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...
,
United States
The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
. In November 2009, it was acquired by
Mitchells Stores.
The flagship store was opened in 1966 by its namesake Wilkes Bashford. It is favored by some prominent individuals such as former
San Francisco Mayor
The mayor of the City and County of San Francisco is the head of the executive branch of the San Francisco city and county government. The officeholder has the duty to enforce city laws, and the power to either approve or veto bills passed by t ...
Willie Brown. The original store is in the
Union Square Shopping District in
San Francisco
San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...
,
California
California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...
. Later the company expanded to
Stanford Shopping Center in
Palo Alto, California
Palo Alto ( ; Spanish language, Spanish for ) is a charter city in northwestern Santa Clara County, California, United States, in the San Francisco Bay Area, named after a Sequoia sempervirens, coastal redwood tree known as El Palo Alto.
Th ...
.
It sold brands such as:
Brioni,
Brunello Cucinelli,
Ermenegildo Zegna,
Loro Piana
Loro Piana S.p.A. is an Italian luxury fashion brand specialized in textile manufacturing and ready-to-wear clothing headquartered in Milan, Italy. Since its start as a merchant of cashmere, vicuña, linen and merino fabrics, Loro Piana expa ...
,
Kiton
Kiton is an Italian fashion house founded by Ciro Paone in Arzano, NA 1968.
Founded in Arzano, Naples in 1968 by Ciro Paone, Kiton is an Italian clothing company with its roots in traditional Italian tailoring. By the end of 2022, Kiton had ...
,
Missoni
Missoni is an Italian luxury fashion house based in Varese, Italy, Varese, and known for its colourful knitwear designs. The company was founded by Ottavio Missoni, Ottavio ("Tai") and Rosita Missoni in 1953.
History Early beginnings
The busin ...
,
Pucci,
Oxxford Clothes,
Oscar de la Renta
Óscar Arístides Renta Fiallo (22 July 1932 – 20 October 2014), known professionally as Oscar de la Renta, was a Dominican fashion designer. Born in Santo Domingo, he was trained by Cristóbal Balenciaga and Antonio del Castillo. De la Renta ...
,
Valentino, and more. The store has a shoe department featuring
Manolo Blahnik
Manuel "Manolo" Blahnik Rodríguez (; born 27 November 1942) is a Spanish fashion designer and founder of the eponymous high-end shoe brand.
Biography
Blahnik was born in Santa Cruz de la Palma, in the Canary Islands (Spain), to a Czech father ...
,
Christian Louboutin
Christian Louboutin (; born 7 January 1964) is a French fashion designer. His stiletto footwear incorporates shiny, red-lacquered soles that have become his signature. Initially a freelance designer for fashion houses, he started his shoe salo ...
,
Bontoni
Bontoni is a luxury Italian shoemaker that makes handmade men's dress shoes. Bontoni's nine-person workshop is located on the outskirts of Montegranaro in the Marche Region of Italy.
Background
Bontoni is a third-generation luxury Italian sho ...
,
John Lobb, and
Gravati.
The store's namesake Wilkes Bashford died of
prostate cancer
Prostate cancer is the neoplasm, uncontrolled growth of cells in the prostate, a gland in the male reproductive system below the bladder. Abnormal growth of the prostate tissue is usually detected through Screening (medicine), screening tests, ...
on January 16, 2016, at the age of 82.
Controversies
In 1985, founder Wilkes Bashford and partner Jack Guillaume were charged with cheating the City of San Francisco out of $1 million in rent.
In popular culture
Wilkes Bashford merchandise is an "addiction" for a wealthy closeted gay character, Beauchamp Day, in
Armistead Maupin
Armistead Jones Maupin, Jr. ( ; born May 13, 1944) is an American writer notable for '' Tales of the City'', a series of novels set in San Francisco.
Early life
Maupin was born in Washington, D.C., to Diana Jane (Barton) and Armistead Jones Maup ...
's eponymous first book from the ''
Tales of the City
''Tales of the City'' is a series of ten novels written by American author Armistead Maupin from 1978 to 2024, depicting the life of a group of friends in San Francisco, many of whom are LGBTQ. The stories from ''Tales'' were originally seri ...
'' series, which is set mostly in San Francisco.
References
Clothing retailers of the United States
Union Square, San Francisco
Companies based in San Francisco
Bashford, Wilkes
Bashford, Wilkes
Bashford, Wilkes
Bashford, Wilkes
20th-century American businesspeople
1966 establishments in California
1966 in San Francisco
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