There's a community brewing in Tacoma, and it's not beer.

Tacoma's fashion-loving Gritizenry are roaming our urban streets looking for the next fix in the form of crazy-good vintage shoes, jeans that are pure perfection and lovingly worn concert tees that just beg to be snapped up. The best part? We have true and new visionaries and a fresh creative community right HERE that is ready to deliver.

It's more than shopping - it's a revolution that will have the city to the north shaking in its pretty lil' boots.

I had the distinct pleasure to talk to three of these visionaries recently, and by the time I was done, I was ready to ditch my ENTIRE wardrobe (budget be damned) and join the revolution wholeheartedly.

UrbanXChange

Married couple Nick and Brooke Casanova are the owners of UrbanXChange, an eclectic vintage and ultramodern clothing exchange for men and women located on Tacoma's Pacific Avenue. The couple took the plunge last year when they grabbed the reins from Brooke's mom, Julie Bennett. This meant ditching their 9 to 5 jobs to focus on a calling that was pure love.

"We never thought we were going to do it," Nick said. "But then it was totally a timing thing. Julie asked Brooke to take over, and we both realized that we just weren't happy in our jobs - they were stressful and we weren't coming home happy, but negative. While the stability was okay, we wanted to come home and be happy."

Happiness won out, and the couple seized the opportunity to create a vision of the store together as partners.

"Mom had great vision," Brooke said. "We wanted to take that and add more and add our style. We wanted to create a place where we would shop. Unlike a corporate chain, we can add our personal touches."

Indeed they did. With curated style, trending pieces and a fresh new stock of high quality items, the store boasts a welcoming appeal that promotes comfortable exploration.

"We have a wide customer range looking to find new things," Brooke said. "Some people come in every day to check out the cream of the crop, good brands and vintage stuff and enjoy the thrill of looking."

The Casanovas give shout outs to The Elquists, Bleach, Tacoma T's, Do the Extraordinary and others. Nick sums up Tacoma's fashion visionaries best.

"We've all been connecting and creating organically, this community of young people with new ideas, and support one another. It's really encouraging and a long time coming for Tacoma."

>>> The Elquists have turned their lifestyle into a his and her experience in downtown Tacoma.

The Elquists

This isn't New York native JD Elquist's first rodeo. Formerly of Feather and Oar, he brought a beautiful menswear style to Tacoma with that first venture that was, according to him, "shirt and tie heavy." He learned that the client base didn't need that style, and a more casual look and feel called. The newly married Elquist wanted to remain in Tacoma and root himself here, so along with the new missus, Drew, a stylist, he decided to go bold and open a new men and women's store complete with a salon called "The Elquists," (his, hers and hair), which allows clients to get the whole experience. Located on Commerce Street in downtown Tacoma, the couple is doing what they love most.

"We love to shop and pick, rummage and dig for things that we love to give back to the community to tell our own story," said JD. "We like to have fun with it and think of how a piece is going to fit into a customer's own story."

So, what's behind Tacoma's style? JD is quick to answer.

"Authenticity is behind Tacoma," he explained. "Tacomans dress for life and have their own individual style. Each person or character has a very strong sense of themselves and is really unique."

JD is also quick to throw out the names of other business owners and designers that are helping build Tacoma fashion footprints. Satori, Do the Extraordinary, UrbanXChange, Bleach, eTcTAcoma, Tacoma Apparel Company, Retrospect and Mandolin are just some of the many names that get props. Another poignant shout out is the Black Anchor Acre Workshop, a business that creates beautiful leather goods right here in Tacoma.

"There's definitely a consciousness of who's doing what," JD said. "We are small enough to all grow together."

>>> You'll find Etcetera clothing brand at the eTcTacoma shop.

eTcTacoma

There's a new fashion kid on the block, and it is fierce. Great buzz is in the air for eTcTacoma, the brainchild of Umi Wagoner and Perris Wright, co-owners and creative directors. Etcetera is the clothing brand, and eTcTacoma is the shop. The new business makes its highly anticipated debut with fashion and live music Saturday, July 19 after retail hours. The store, located at 907 Pacific Ave., has been an idea in the works for Wagoner and Wright since their senior year in high school.

"We always knew that we wanted a store and one that would bring limited-edition apparel and accessories to Tacoma,"  the duo explained in a recent communication.

And what about the local scene?

"Tacoman Youth have ALWAYS been interested in wearing and looking for hard-to-find fashions, and that is what we will provide - the best of small-production clothing and accessory brands. The mission behind our business is to slowly alter the mass consumer fashion mind-state and redirect it toward supporting brands that are niche and a particular lifestyle that represents its patrons and not pop culture trends or a celebrity's status. Brands such as CLSC CO, PhreshCru, TheDivinities, KnightmareUSA, 40sandShorties and more will be featured in the shop and at the grand opening."

For both Wagoner and Wright, there's a revolution brewing in Tacoma, and they are ready to bring it.

"It's been us at the fore of producing limited-edition apparel and accessories and playing off the small-town culture and local businesses," they said. "It has also been us attempting to spread the culture and help our patrons become information and culture seekers via reading new books, playing new music, expanding horizons and relating those to their current points of interest. We are going to continue to push that initiative and open our doors, quite literally, to all those willing and wanting to` contribute to the idea of subculture."

UrbanXChange, 1932 Pacific Ave., Tacoma, 253.572.2280, urbanxchangetacoma.tumblr.com

The Elquists, 780 Commerce St., Tacoma, 253.625.8419, theelquists.com

eTcTacoma, 907 Pacific Ave., Tacoma, etctacoma.com