Kate Zambreno

"Have you seen 'Far from Heaven'?" gushes Public i's Julia Kniel. The pixie-ish owner of the Division Street boutique wears a Mario Balthazar A-line dress tied with a red bow that calls to mind the fifties nostalgia of the Todd Haynes movie. Heather, the manager, and Melissa, also dressed up in summer designs from the boutique, look, as Julia is fond of saying, like "Public i poster children."

"These shoes are going," Heather declares, flicking off her heels. The three ladies have just finished setting up for the cocktail party they're hosting along with neighboring boutiques that specialize in furniture and Tibetan rugs, European home wares, clothes and shoes. "Each store targets the same personality, but for a different role in your life," says Julia. A table bearing shrimp cocktail and a vegetable tray is set up in the urban goods section in back, and a bartender waits to make cosmopolitans for invited clients and curious strollers-by.

They talk about the November move of the six-year-old boutique from Lincoln Park to Division Street. "The shoe store le fétiche was going to be opening, and we thought, it'd be great to do an opening party when they did it," says Julia. "Shoes and clothes go perfectly." She shows off her red strappy heels borrowed from Melissa and bought from next door. Their stretch of Division Street, already heralded as a restaurant row, got a boost from a recent write-up in shopper's digest Lucky magazine. "I think the area's becoming more like Soho," says Julia. "Unique shops and unique places to eat," agrees Melissa.

(2003-06-18)

Also by Kate Zambreno

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Back in 1998, when the fashion designer resided in Los Angeles, camisoles she stitched together out of sari fabric brought back from a trip to Bali adorned the likes of Madonna and sold out at Fred Segal in four days. Then the Indonesian economy collapsed, crushing her nascent business just as it was taking off.
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