This weekend marks the grand opening of Hazel & Rose, Minnesota’s first women’s boutique dedicated to sustainable and ethical fashion. It’s the brainchild of Emma Olson, a former buyer and merchandise planner for Target. The idea for the store came to her two years ago, during an event hosted by Target headquarters to launch Made to Matter that featured a panel and Q&A with the brands’ CEOs. The initiative is the company’s ongoing collaboration with 20 socially responsible brands, such as Burt’s Bees and Mrs. Meyer’s Clean Day, which features products that are healthier for the body and the planet. “I was really inspired by the way they were challenging their own industry to improve,” she says, “and I thought, that’s something I can do with fashion.”
She began researching sustainable and ethical fashion and skincare. “I was learning how bad the fast-fashion industry really was,” she says, “both for the environment and the people who were making it.” Hazel & Rose—named for Olson’s grandmothers—features designers from around the world that weren’t sold anywhere else in the Twin Cities, such as Apoterra Skincare, Imogene + Willie denim, Vere Verto handbags, and Veja shoes. “I wanted to offer a destination with new designers, new products, and people could discover this world of sustainable, ethical fashion in person, in Minneapolis,” she says. “Once I learned about sustainable fashion, I couldn’t go back.”
The shop’s space is itself a testament to sustainability: It’s housed in the Broadway, an old mattress factory renovated by creative real estate tycoons First & First with tenants including Spyhouse Coffee, Brow Chic salon, 612Brew craft brewery, and Buzzfeed’s Twin Cities tech office. And there’s also a “shop local” angle: The store carries goods by Minneapolis’ own Winsome, Hackwith Design House, and L.Shoff jewelry, while the space’s layout was designed by Twin Cities design duo MAD—Martha McQuade and Dan Clark, complete with industrial, minimalist racks crafted by local maker Marvin Freitas.
Now open, 945 Broadway St. N.E. #220, Minneapolis, 612-788-4178, shophazelandrose.com
