This is one hot-button issue.
Former San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown cleaned out his closet and is auctioning off his old clothes for charity.
The 89-year-old retired political power broker, nicknamed “His Dappernesss,” during his heydey for his fashion sense, is selling 36 items from his wardrobe on eBay until Wednesday to benefit San Francisco Bay Goodwill in what’s become an annual effort.
Dubbed the Willie Brown Collection, the pieces up for sale include silk blazers, cashmere coats, dress pants, button-down shirts, and even hangers from designer labels like Loro Piana, Kiton, Brioni, Ferragamo, and Tom Ford.
The highest-ticketed piece is a Wilkes Bashford Men’s Khaki Cotton Double Breasted Trench, which had a starting price of $34.99 and has already received 28 bids, the most current for $540.00.
The cheapest in the offerings is a Kiton Brioni Valentino Delisi Saks coat hanger collection, with a starting price of $29.99, which has not gotten any bids yet.
The lot also includes a letterman jacket from San Francisco Black Wall Street, a foundation that supports Black San Franciscans, and a graphic print hoodie with pictures of Brown emblazoned on it, from the Uncuffed Project, a nonprofit that aids those released from prison.
Brown, who was the first African American to serve the California city as mayor, a position he held from 1996 to 2004, once gave CBS News this sartorial advice.
“I’d start off by saying, you should buy quality clothing. Quality clothing includes attention to fabric, attention to style, and, more importantly, attention to fit,” he said.
“That automatically means not cheap. If you buy just one good suit, spending what you normally would for three inexpensive ones, you will be much better off.”
Brown, who also served in the California State Assembly from 1981 to 1995, rising to become the state’s first Black speaker, even had a personal stylist, the late Wilkes Bashford, during his time in the public eye.
“The reason he is so unique in his field and in his life is because he is comfortable in those clothes,” Bashford told SF Weekly in 2014. “He’s gonna wear what he wants.”
“There is a difference between being who you are … and believing in who you need to be, and flaunting something. Willie doesn’t flaunt. Willie is that person.”
