The Gateway City

Style has come home to roost in St. Louis. Downtown is experiencing a major revitalization, powered by a brigade of young artists and designers who are giving the area a new lease on life, much like that vintage Chanel handbag you found in your grandmother’s attic. Spend a few days in the fashionable Garment District and see for yourself: arch designer Eero Saarinen definitely wasn’t the last person to add a little flair to the Gateway City.

On the banks of the Mississippi near Laclede’s Landing, two new hotels―Four Seasons Hotel St. Louis and HoteLumière―anchor this month’s Fashion Week. On Washington Avenue (the central artery of the Garment District), where buildings wear names such as Bee Hat, International Shoe, and Knickerbocker, independent boutiques showcase buzz-worthy local designers. Once-abandoned clothing factories are now filled with an influx of restaurants, lofts, and the requisite retro-chic bowling alley with martini bar―Flamingo Bowl.

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