Fashion Insider: Blackbird Style

To a large degree, your style reflects your lifestyle, and for Wayne Rollins, that is exactly the case. The Atlanta native, who moved here from California in 2008 with his wife, Mindy, opened Blackbird Home Décor at 1540 Main St., Sarasota, in 2009. The store offers stylish and unique home furnishings — the type of furnishings you won’t find anywhere else, and that’s Rollins’ intention. The one-of-a-kind home gallery has now evolved into Blackbird Lifestyle, which includes men’s clothing, so Black Tie stopped in to see what’s new.

The concept behind Blackbird Lifestyle is to intermingle the fashionable aspects of life — style in the form of home decor and fashion.

“This has been my plan the whole time. This is more me,” says Rollins, “There are tables and clothing and everything is just all around cool.”

So what’s in store?
“What I’m trying to sell is what I would wear,” says Rollins. “I found there was a gap between Shore and Brooks Brothers, in terms of what is sold locally for men’s clothing.” This gap, he says, is men’s apparel that’s modern, attractive and simple.

Don’t expect prominent stitching on jeans or patterned cuffs on shirts in Blackbird. The apparel Rollins offers is a classic, yet updated approach to men’s style. The clothing has a modern fit while mixing old school elegance with contemporary trends.

“It’s what I believe everyone should have in their closet,” says Rollins.

Parke and Ronen bathing suits, Cotton Citizen T-shirts, Joe’s Jeans and Ned Bowman leather goods are a few of the lines that Rollins is currently carrying at Blackbird. After just returning from buying in New York City last week, Rollins is bringing in six more lines for spring, including Fidelity Jeans, J. Lindeberg Jeans, Riviera shoes (think a boat shoe crossed with Vans) and Randolph sunglasses, to name a few.

The space has also had some additions recently. Three dressing rooms were added in a back corner of the store. Their design was approached with the same attention to detail as every other part of the Blackbird Lifestyle.

The dressing room spaces were built with raw wood, and the walls are covered with vintage galvanized steel from an old barn roof — a perfect match for the industrial look the store emanates.

“Something that has been great for me is collaborating with friends and other creative people throughout this process,” says Rollins, who had friends help with the design and construction of the store. The edgy dressing rooms, the hand-painted black crow at the desk and the custom handmade clothing racks, made from brass and steel —all products of Rollins’ vision for the store — came to life with the help of friends.
From the merchandise to the layout, and smaller details like the clothing racks, every aspect of Blackbird Lifestyle represents Rollins’ vision.  The result is that every corner seeps with style.

Blackbird Lifestyle will continue to expand, adding more apparel each season — and with more than 1,240 square feet of unused balcony space in the loft, the opportunities for expansion abound.
“It’s a process, and that’s the fun part about it,” says Rollins.