An Interview with Adam Sinding of Le 21eme Arrondissement

What does your blog name, 21 Arrondissement, mean?

Well, I lived in Paris for School in late 2005 and fell in love with fashion while I was there. I'd always been interested in fashion, but Paris really inspired me and fine-tuned my aesthetic taste. Paris has 20 quarters...or arrondissements. I moved home in early 2006, and didn't start my blog until Oct 2007...but I wanted to allude to my Parisian influences, and how, in my opinion, Paris is the center of the fashion world. Thus, the 21st Arrondissement.

Adam, you're a freelance photographer, so what got you interested in fashion? What inspired you to start documenting Seattle street fashion?

Paris, New York, working at the W Hotel, my mom is a clothing designer, and my grandmother was an interior design professor. It all gave me a pretty good idea of what I liked to look at. I remember seeing my mom reading WWD all the time, and Vogue and Bazaar would be around. I started looking at them for the pretty girls, but started to appreciate the clothes more as time passed. Blogging...well, when I came home from France, I had all of these amazing garments from Dior Homme, and would wear them around Seattle. People would look at me funny, and I always thought about how nice it would be for someone to appreciate these clothes. It would happen at bars/clubs, people would compliment my shoes, or my jackets, etc...but I realized, I'm a guy, and it's really easy for guys to put a little effort into their outfit and get big results. For women, however, there is so much more work into looking good. So, I thought, it feels nice to be complimented...so why don't I go around and document people who take the time to put themselves together in a creative way...take a photo of them and have that be my compliment to them? I figured if people thought that someone cared, that someone respected their efforts, maybe they'd be more apt to do it more often. It was probably pretty vain, but it felt nice to meet other people who had similar interests....

What do you look for when you're prowling the streets? What is fashion forward to you--to 21 Arrondissement?

#1: Hair. It's your best accessory, and it's practically free...even if you don't have a huge budget for apparel, you can always have great hair.
#2: Shoes. Shoes are the windows to your soul (sole!). Shoes can make/break an outfit. I'm so sick of people getting all dressed up and then putting on UGGs.
#3: Bags...ladies of course. Branding, in my opinion, is a no-no, unless it's so outrageously obvious...like a HUGE logo. I'm sick of monogram...it's just not creative, not forward thinking, it doesn't help to "define" you. A bag can be cheap and still amazing...think H&M or Urban Outfitters.
#4: Originality...standing out. This can be done for $0. That's the best part. It's not what you're wearing, but HOW you wear it.

Where do you find the most "high fashion" people?

I tend to stalk in Downtown's shopping core and Ballard. These neighbourhoods have the best shopping, and thus draw the most fashionable people. I live on Capitol Hill, and have come up dry too often when "stalking" my hood.

How would you describe Seattle's take on fashion? The people featured on your site are amazingly dressed, so It's not all burkas and socks and sandals, right?

In a word..."comfortable." This is not a bad thing either...but can be executed very poorly or very well. Look at Rick Owens. It's an entire high-fashion line designed with comfort in mind, but is still extremely cutting edge. As for the 2nd half of your question, every city has cliches. There are trailer parks in France too...let's put it that way. Seattle just has more cliches than most cities, as far as fashion goes. It also depends on where you are in the city.

Can you describe the difference between hipsters and high fashion? There's a fine line, right?

We don't try to avoid hipsters...we just think most of it's been done. American Apparel can be done very well....like if you shop for basics. It's all about creativity, and hipsters have this. But, colour palate is often an afterthought with the "hipster" uniform. I see a lot of kids whose color palate resembles Skittles...there is no focus. It's not a bad thing, but cramming as many colors as possible into one outfit isn't always the best. My personal taste is a little more timeless and my wardrobe is pretty muted in colour. I buy clothes which will last a few seasons and not look dated. I'm by no means high-fashion. but I'm not boring either.

We saw major fashion designer, Tory Burch, on your blog...tell us about how that happened?

They opened a new store at the Bravern in Bellevue, and we were invited to a party their by their head of marketing, Kate Macaluso. When we were in NYC, we were invited by Kate to their Meatpacking District shop for an Ethiopian Children's Fund fundraiser, and Tory was there, along with Liya Kebede and a number of other who's who's.

Where do you see yourself in 5-10 years?

Tough question. Hopefully doing something with fashion. I'd love to be at Paris Fashion Week...and a lot sooner than 5-10 years!