Sole to Soul: 'Benevolent Tide Club' Mission Pop-Up Today

Sole to Soul: 'Benevolent Tide Club' Mission Pop-Up TodayInside Benevolent Tide Club on Valencia St. | Photos: Larissa Runkle/Hoodline
Larissa Runkle
Published on July 15, 2017

If the gated storefront of Benevolent Tide Club at 381 Valencia is easy to miss, it's because the shop is closed most days. 

Run by Mohinders creative director Kristen Morabito, handbag designer Susan Hoff, and Salter Vintage founder Mariah Gardner, the space holds an eclectic mix of materials that have been transformed into wearable street fashion.

Inside Benevolent Tide Club.

While Hoff stitches together old sails and bits of leather to create water-resistant totes, Morabito collaborates with Mohinders founder Michael Paratore on their main product: a handwoven city slipper made with leather from family-owned tanneries in the Karnataka region of India. 

The shop is located at 381 Valencia St.

Mohinders was born in 2012 after Paratore returned from a trip to Mumbai with a pair of leather street slippers that quickly became his obsession.

After quitting his job as a corporate lawyer and returning to Mumbai in search of the family that created his slippers, Paratore found them and still works with them today.

Using an old-world vegetable tanning technique, the company creates leather goods it says are more eco-friendly than mainstream chrome tanning methods.

Susan Hoff Bags adorn the walls.

The shop also carries Salter Vintage, a line of western coastal gear that's been hand-tailored and restored by Gardner, a designer and creative whose work has been featured in The Bold Italic and San Francisco Magazine.

This morning at 11, Benevolent Tide Club hosts a pop-up that includes guest artisans Blockshop Textiles, Sarah Kersten Ceramics, and Birch SF

Today's event runs from 11am–5pm and will be catered by 20th Century Café, with flowers from Birch SF.