Sales & Shopping

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• April 1, 2008
• Just Opened

Just Opened: Acrimony

The City by the Bay welcomes some chic shopping to Hayes Valley. By Sydney Pfaff

Leaving just the opposite feeling of what the namesake signifies—"bitterness or ill-feeling"—the new Hayes Valley shop Acrimony will no doubt awaken style senses you never knew you had. "In San Francisco, I felt it was difficult to find things that are truly unique or not mass produced," says owner Jenny Chung. After years of retail planning, buying and sales management in the fashion industry, Chung was ready to open a store to call her own. "I hope to create a space where people are inspired to try a new style of dress, experience a different medium of art, or listen to an unfamiliar genre of music."

Lines from New York, Sweden, Paris, Thailand, Los Angeles, and Australia fill out the nearly 2,000-square-foot space. For women, April 77 jeans hang with whimsical prints from Bangkok-based Sretsis, while men can find gear from Norwegian company Wood Wood and selvedge jeans from Cassette. Michelle Vale handbags and jewelry from Tommasini and Bijules make up the bulk of the accessories stock, although men's Common Projects sneakers are expected to make an appearance for fall.

Custom-made silver pipe racks and rod-iron display cases lay beneath a hand-blown glass chandelier from Italy that, as Chung reports, "came in a crate big enough for a gorilla." The concrete-colored walls host work from artists found around the world—the current show displays graphic prints and illustrations from Japan's Nekoshogun—and will be rotated every two months.

When asked about why she chose to not carry women's shoes this season, Chung explains her pickiness in shoes due to an extensive background in the industry and adds with a smile, "That'll be my next project. It's a small space to achieve something so grand, but it allows the shop to stay focused on only the very best."

Acrimony, 515 Gough Street, 415-861-1025; For more information, go to www.shopacrimony.com.

The City by the Bay welcomes some chic shopping to Hayes Valley.