Interview With Ben Ospital And Chris Ospital Of MAC

Skip navigation!

After several months of pushed back opening dates, the debut of the Yellow Building project finally throws its doors open today in the buzzy Dogpatch ‘hood. To find out more about the involvement of iconic San Francisco shop MAC Modern Appealing Clothing, we got the lowdown from brother-and-sister owners Ben and Chris Opsital.

Tell us a little about the giant hybrid shop that is open today! Chris Ospital: “We will be there, along with Piccino Cafe, Blue Bottle Coffee, DIG wine shop and wine bar, and more. It’s all very artisanal and we’ve all known each other for a long time. We’re very like-minded. We have the same fresh, local, process-driven idea. And just in building the space we’ve met so many other local artisans who are just small, proud of what they do, and doing really beautiful work. And we want to celebrate that.”

AdvertisementADVERTISEMENT

Why did you decide on Dogpatch as your second store location? Ben Ospital: “Dogpatch is wonderful because it’s a neighborhood of people who are making things and doing things, whether it’s Kitchenette or the guys from N.I.C.E. Collective who do their manufacturing there. With our new location, we really want it to be an homage to the makers. We’re going to put a lot of focus on those people who are making things in San Francisco. And it’ll be a mix. We’ll have clothes, but we’ll also have things from Boulette’s Larder, George Pet Store, Mollusk Surf Shop... These are all people in San Francisco who are making home-grown things that are about the experience of living in San Francisco.”

What else will be different about this shop versus your Hayes Valley space?Ben Ospital: “This location will be an homage to making clothes. We’re going to be having events called ‘Meet Your Maker,’ which is all about that human connection to the products. And instead of just made-to-measure suits, we’re going to do made-to-measure everyday clothes, like a custom Italian canvas jacket that you will wear to go eat pizza, dig in the garden, get stuck in a rainstorm. We think that piece you wear everyday is the one that should fit you perfectly. Even with all of this fast fashion, no one has figured out a machine that can poop out garments—yet. Hands make clothes. And for anyone who has sewn a button on a garment or tried to repair a broken zipper, you know it is not easy to make a garment. So, while some things might cost a lot of money, quite frankly it’s about the amount of labor and love and creativity that goes into it. We’ve always said that we’ve taken our cues from the Slow Food movement. We’re kind of Slow Clothes.”

MAC Modern Appealing Clothing, Yellow Building, 1003 Minnesota (at 22nd Street).