Pia boutique opens in Jackson Square.
Boutique targets ‘modern, active professional women’ with exclusive lines and staples
San Francisco’s Jackson Square neighborhood has become one of the hottest retail destinations in San Francisco in the last two years, with boutiques by Isabel Marant, Shinola, APC and others bringing a renewed vibrancy to the area. The latest shop to open is women’s boutique Pia on Jackson. Owner Pia Øien Cohler (a native of Oslo, who spoke to Style via phone as she looked “out at the Oslo fjords” from a friend’s house in the Vinderen neighborhood of the city) has long been in love with fashion but initially pursued a career in corporate law in New York. “It wasn’t until I was an associate at a big firm that I realized I didn’t see myself doing that for years,” Cohler says. “At 1 a.m., exhausted at the firm working on a case, I’d dream about fashion.”
Pia is aimed at Cohler’s fellow thirtysomething demographic of “modern, active professional women” who she hopes aren’t afraid of playing with color and silhouette in more classic pieces.
“Even something like a T-shirt can have a great new shape,” Cohler says.
The store will carry Giambattista Valli, Roksanda, Zimmermann and Nina Ricci, and will offer Dodo Bar Or, House of Dagmar and Solace London exclusively in San Francisco.
Cohler is excited to be featuring two pieces in particular that she says are perfect San Francisco staples: bomber jackets and rompers. She calls the different weights and cuts on this season’s bomber jacket versatile enough for San Francisco’s different climates and says the two items pair well together.
Cohler says she knew the Jackson Square neighborhood was the right location for Pia because it reminded her of New York’s West Village.
“I had a little New York nostalgia when I moved out here a year ago,” she says. “But the neighborhood has everything. It’s quaint, there’s great restaurants and, most important for San Francisco, it’s flat and you can walk around here in heels!”
The light-filled space, formerly La Boutique, was exactly what she had in mind for Pia. “The tall ceilings are amazing and the mezzanine space is so great,” she says. “My husband’s older brother, Eric Cohler, has been overseeing the design. I’m trying to keep it industrial since the space already looked cool and raw as it was. I think it’s very elegant with a hint of whimsy. I don’t want to feel intimidating. I want it to be a space where people can be at ease.”
In the future, Cohler would like to offer a robust selection of Bay Area designers since one of the things that attracted her to San Francisco was its fashion community, one she doesn’t want to see fall victim to the allconsuming force of the tech industry.
“The tech industry is one of the great things about San Francisco, and it’s also one of the things that limits San Francisco,” she says. “It’s so successful it can crush other industries. I want to support the industry here, and now I can do it.”