Over the rolling hills of San Francisco, the streets are teeming with young artists and style innovators. Forget those images of gangling long hair and oversized tie-dye tees the city once conjured. San Francisco is vibrant with original style. Strolling past Victorian-inspired architecture, soma explores the districts that are sf’s whimsically unique hubs of street style, asking its fashionistas:

1 What’s your favorite sf district in which to shop?
2 What trend is most prominent in the streets?
3 How do you define your street style?
4 Outside sf, which city’s street fashion inspires you?
5 What district has the best street art?

McChrystal, 27
1 There’s a rad Savers thrift store at the end of the T-line
2 Boring
3 Well-dressed homeless
4 Nightmare City in the ‘90s
5 Bleh… the emptier parts of the city towards the water and warehouses

Shiv, 22, musician
1 Haight and Mission
2 Hoodies and blazers; layering pieces
3 Whatever I throw on in the morning
4 I would say London
5 Random alleys

Amanda Lilac, 20, retail
1 My absolute gold mine is Static in Haight; then again I do live across the street
2 Mostly skinny jeans, blazers, plaid shirts, etc.
3 Mod, but we allx have our lazy days
4 London, Paris, anything from Europe, except for Eurotrash
5 The Mission, downtown by Civic Center

Seraphim, 23, asset management
1 The internet district, corner of world wide web and information superhighway
2 Men’s moustaches, thank God
3 Simple and understated with giant fucking hair
4 NYC
5 Don’t know nothin’ about that

Valerie, 28, COO, investment firm
1 I love wandering through Molte Cose on Polk; Schauplatz in the Mission never lets me down
2 I love when weather brings out the accessories: hats, boots, scarves, coats.
3 Dashiell Hammett’s dame
4 NYC in the ‘30s and ‘40s; it was all about glamour
5 The city is art

Mr. M, student
1 Categorization is bourgeois
2 Poor taste
3 I look like an expensive nerd most of the time
4 Berlin circa 1963, or New York circa SuperFly era
5 The people in the Tenderloin are art

Dellea Delish, 25, graphic designer
1 I’ll comb any shop, dept store, boutique, dumpster, rob random closets
2 The “I don’t give a crap (but secretly I do)” look
3 Tight pants, loose tops, bling
4 The lights & robots in Blade Runner
5 Misson’s colorful people, Mexican joints, dirty bars & graffiti

Text by  Chhavi Nanda
Photography by JT Paradox