Chanin & Reid....Fashionable Florence

 

 When I say Florentine fashion, perhaps you think Gucci or Ferragamo. But a trip to Florence, Alabama, these days is also quite fashionable thanks to designers Natalie Chanin (above) and Billy Reid.

 

I was in this friendly Southern city this week, where I visited The Factory at Alabama Chanin (and had a magnificent lunch, I might add).

Then, I caught a ride to Court Street in downtown Florence....

.....to drop into the Billy Reid shop there.  It's wonderful to see how these two designers employ local people, have even planted and spun local cotton into socks, all served up in beautiful spaces. 

Indeed, what a treat--topped off with a delightful surprise....

....for who should I bump into at Billy Reid? None other than my darling bud May!  She was in the area to visit friends who used to live in Florence, South Carolina.  Perhaps it is a small world, after all.