Totokaelo Rocks Seattle

Since 2003, Jill Wenger has catered to Seattle’s fashion savvy with her forward thinking clothing store, Totokaelo. “Totokaelo is a tightly curated selection of what I believe to be the most honest, beautiful, and interesting fashion… in the world right now,” explains Wenger. And considering she carries the likes of Maison Martin Margiela, Ann Demeulemeester, Mary Katrantzou, and Damir Doma, her summation seems on point.
 
Last week, Wenger took her Seattle gem to the next level. Not only did she move into a new, super-sleek 7,000-square-foot space in the Capitol Hill neighborhood (Seattle’s answer to Soho), but she’s also begun stocking a range of covetable objects and home furnishings. If you pay a visit to the airy, minimalist white and wooden store (fun fact: it was converted from an automobile showroom built in the 1940s), you can pick up some Rick Owens furniture to go with that new leather jacket, a hand-crafted crocheted metal wall hanging by Arielle de Pinto, or some vintage textiles. And what’s more, Wenger has chosen the opening of her new boutique to launch her own in-house furniture line. Each of the range’s six pieces, which were inspired by “the grounded, easy nature of the West Coast and the vibrancy and strength of the East Coast,” is hand crafted.
 
 “[The new store] is a collection of ideas and people that I’ve come across while traveling, scouting, collecting and living. Vintage 1960s optical-illusion screen prints I found on my last trip to Milan, Raf Simons’s final collection for Jil Sander, and exclusive furniture collaborations, all under one roof,” says Wenger of the store, which she describes as part art installation, part retail. And from Totokaelo’s ever cool, eclectic offerings to the bronzed shoes mixed in with the merchandise on the 30-foot-long footwear display, you’d be hard pressed not to find something intriguing inside its doors.
 
 
Totokaelo is located at 1532 10th Avenue in Seattle, WA, or visit the shop online at www.totokaelo.com.