Accessories, new arrivals, noteworthy items, and more
Lord Wallington Bowties
Accessories
Tie One On
SD designer Immanuel Ontiveros is bringing back the bow tie! His brand Lord Wallington (named after his rescue pup, Wally) specializes in making custom bow- and neckties to suit your color, size, and style needs. Select designs are also available at Vocabulary boutique in Little Italy and Urban Girl Accessories in Seaport Village.
—Kimberly Cunningham
New Arrivals
Tucci
Popular Solana Beach boutique Tucci recently opened a second location in Del Mar Highlands Town Center. Look for hot labels like Isabel Marant and 3.1 Phillip Lim.
Rip Curl by Hansen’s
Two beloved brands unite at the the new Rip Curl by Hansen’s store (right across the street from Swami’s surf break). Gotta love their best-selling wet suits and boardshorts.
Tommy Hilfiger
A Tommy Hilfiger store is set to open in early June at Fashion Valley. Keep an eye out for the Surf Shack capsule collection, with relaxed, beachy styles that are so San Diego.
Noteworthy
Odd Daughter Paper Co.
Odd Daughter Paper Co.
We’re loving this new line of letterpress note cards by local Katie Hart, who named the company after her mom’s middle-school moniker, Odd Daughter. Available at Pigment in North Park.
The Best Gym in San Diego Isn’t Really a Gym Anymore
Earlier this year, Fit quietly dropped "athletic" from its brand, from Fit Athletic Clubs to simply Fit, and started calling itself something new: a social wellness club.
There’s a version of San Diego that lives in two extremes. On one side, the 5 a.m. crowd: biohackers, marathoners, people who’ve already logged a cold plunge before your alarm goes off. On the other, the after-dark crowd, the ones chasing sunset happy hours and late dinners with friends. Everyone seems to be either optimizing or unwinding, and most of us feel like we’re failing at both.
Fit, San Diego’s reigning Best Gym for the third year running, has built its entire identity around erasing that divide.
Walk into one of Fit’s three San Diego locations on a Tuesday afternoon and the lines blur fast. Someone’s mid-set on the squat rack. Someone else has a laptop open at a café table a few feet away, half-working, half-people-watching. A group is trading plans for the weekend’s event by the recovery lounge. Nobody’s in a rush to leave.
“We’re not competing for the same people,” says Emily Waybright, Public Relations Manager at Fit, addressing the arrival of a national luxury gym chain in San Diego this year. “We don’t really feel like we’re in the gym category. It’s this unique thing.”
That unique thing has a name now. Earlier this year, Fit quietly dropped “athletic” from its brand, from Fit Athletic Clubs to simply Fit, and started calling itself something new: a social wellness club.
It’s a small wording change with a bigger idea behind it. Fit was never built around escaping the workday. It was built around the people who genuinely like what they do, and who want workouts, work, and friendships to happen in the same place instead of three separate ones. Because sometimes red light therapy with a stranger turns into weekend plans.
Fit’s philosophy traces back to its founder, who started the brand nearly two decades ago after failing to find a gym he actually wanted to belong to. He looked instead to the old-school country club, where people came for a shared interest and stayed for the community. His version was made for a younger generation, minus the golf, plus the loud music.
Which makes it a little ironic that the very award putting Fit back in the spotlight this year is Best Gym.
What does the best traditional gym look like when the definition of a gym is becoming less traditional? It’s a fair question, and Fit’s answer is that the fitness industry itself is shifting. The 45-minutes-in, 45-minutes-out model is giving way to something closer to a genuine third space, the kind of role the office and the bar used to play before remote work and changing nightlife habits rearranged how people spend their time
For Fit, community isn’t a marketing add-on to fitness. It’s the through-line. Members aren’t just paying for a treadmill; they’re paying for an entire day of social wellness that’s built on performance, recovery, connection, and a plan for the next event on the calendar. That’s a much harder membership to walk away from.
Ambition and ease aren’t opposites here, they exist side by side, where passion and play share the same morning. On September 12, Fit is hosting Sol, a full day wellness festival at Fit Social. The morning focuses on wellness classes and vendors and then the evening is a full party with multiple DJ sets and an open bar. Think of it as a kick-off to locals’ summer in San Diego.
Ready to see what a social wellness club actually looks like? Visit fitclubs.com, or follow along at @thefitclubs on Instagram.
Bixby and Ball owners exhibit transitional style in their Cardiff Condo
By Kimberly Cunningham | Photos by Found Creative Studio
Get the Look
Get the Look
1. Mix something old with something new
In other words, work with what you’ve got. Don’t be afraid to blend traditional furniture pieces with more modern ones. A little of this, a little of that—it’s foolproof for the indecisive design maven who wants and loves it all. Use artwork and accents to bridge the generation gap. Like so many things, beauty lies in the details. In the office below (fashioned out of a broom closet!), Melissa spruced up old baskets from Ikea with vintage label plates from Van Dyke’s Restorers (vandykes.com). Yes, even organizational items can occasionally use a face-lift!
2. Build from a neutral color palette
Beiges, grays, and creams increase the options when seeking a mix ‘n’ match style. This goes for wall color and big furniture pieces like sofas, chairs, and rugs. Once the basics are set, use coffee-table books, lamps, and glassware to add pops of color. For Betsy’s condo, the girls chose a putty-colored palette. Melissa says, “Choose something other than white, and keep it neutral.”
3. Make it multifunctional and fun
Using items that serve more than one purpose is key when working with small spaces. This vintage bar cart from Society Social comes in handy during cocktail parties, but on a daily basis it works as an entry vignette (shopsocietysocial.com). “It’s on wheels, so it’s easy to move,” Betsy says. Another must: Make the most of your accents. Betsy shows off her playful side with a Jonathan Adler vase, aptly named “Kiki’s Derrière” after Kim Kardashian’s infamous backside. “It’s a little girly and a little funky. I like there to be a little bit of humor in every room.”
Growing up, Laika Nur, MD, Scripps Clinic sports medicine specialist, loved watching beach volleyball when the Association of Volleyball Professionals tour came to her hometown of Chicago. A talented volleyball player herself, she remembers sitting in the stands all day, and once, even got a couple autographs. Years later, Dr. Nur was attending a professional event focused on women’s sports, and the discussion turned to a new professional women’s volleyball league. The general manager and coaching staff for San Diego’s team, the Mojo, happened to be in attendance, and Dr. Nur took the opportunity to ask them if they needed a team doctor. Flash forward to the Mojo’s inaugural 2024 season, when Dr. Nur officially became the team physician. Click here to read more about Dr. Nur and how she incorporates lessons she learned on the court into her practice.
For more nutrition, wellness, and healthy living tips, sign up for the San Diego Health newsletter here.
