LAUNCH, was the brainchild of a collaboration between Houston First and our town’s talented influencer, Sydney Dao, who knew who the best of the best talents were and brought them all together to show Houston proud and give all tourists a great place to shop in the mecca that is become Super Bowl Headquarters Downtown Houston.
In curating the group of designers and artists that Sydney Dao chose for this collective group, she was looking for certainly emerging talent but not just the best vendors but a group that showed how culturally diverse a representative of this city has to offer. About LAUNCH and its designers, Sydney Dao said, “I’m excited to offer local designers an international platform; these opportunities are rare, said the founder of Squid Inc.”
It was conceived as an idea in October, and progressed to have approximately six weeks to find and curate the designers to be included. It helped that Sydney had the partnership of Gino Vian of Merchant Market to design the raw space for their needs and produce a modern, space and in many cases designed the fixturing as well. Check out this talented fella at mrchmrkt.com
Famed fashion illustrator, Rongrong DeVoe has brilliantly transferred many of her famous sketches to products that lend themselves to her work. Trust me, every fashion gal in Houston will want one of these and did I mention what great gifts they would be! www.rongrongdevoe.com
Fashion designer Kisa Williams developed her unique one-of-a-kind handbags while studying at Houston Community College; even aspect of a Kisa bag is Houston-made. www.kisakisafashion.com
An artist and world traveler, Sarrah Zadeh of La Mochi is inspired by the world around her, particularly human culture and behavior. Sarrah works closely with the Colombian women blending tradition, fine arts and contemporary design. www.lamochi. com
Stateline Designer, Ellyse, started in 2014 with two friends that wanted to bring soft (and they are the softest ever!) t-shrts that every Texan would love. After starting on Etsy the collection has exploded and expanded to include some ‘Women’s Empowerment’ designs as well and the designer spends many of her weekends heading to the many markets/shows that are around. www.mystatelinedesigns.com
After spending years of designing and manufacturing in her homeland of Colombia, Brenda Grands immersed herself into the jewelry industry in 2014. She has created a new collection and lookbook, entitled ‘Nature’ and compiles all that she wanted to create and to show the world. www.brendagrands.com Ana Mae Holmes uses semi-precious stones in her Temple Street Jewelry collection to create her vibrant statement pieces that give her customers a sense of excitement and discovery. To see more visit www.shoptemplestreet.com
Ethnic inspired print dresses were a popular look within the shop…..two ladies that did it very well, Karissa Lindsay of A Leap of Style, www.aleapofstyle.com and Onyii Brown, who launched her company Onyii & Co. in 2013, of feminine dressing. www.onyiiandco.com; Sandwiched between these ladies was the one gentleman of the day, Joshua Pierre, whose collection of expert tailoring and fine quality menswear is named for his grandmother, Edwige Pierre, www.edwigepierre.com
Artist, Marilyn Biles has used her paintings as the inspiration for her line of women’s accessories and giftables in silk charmeuse; see more at www.marilynbiles.com. On her right, knit maker, Claire Drennan, who learned to appreciate this art while living in Chile for six years, does all of her own knitting by hand in her studio on the East Side of Houston. visit www.clairedrennan.com
Featured above, Stash Leather Goods, are all Houston-made. Their large selection can be found in the pop-up shop or on their site at www.stash-co.com. To see more of all of these great products visit LAUNCH or their retail store in West Ave.
Of course, there is Sydney’s sis, Chloe Dao, not exactly an emerging talent but one that helped originally put Houston on the fashion map as she became the Season 2 Project Runway winner and has remained a relevant fashion force in this city ever since. Always a favorite of mine, you must check out her Aya wrap that she was featuring in six colors that adds an extra touch of style to whatever you may be wearing…..more to come on Chloe’s newest collections on MyRedGlasses in the near future. For now check out Chloe’s sampling at LAUNCH and at her site, www.chloedao.com
And so here it is, the ladies that made it happen and the listing of every designer being represented in LAUNCH. To learn more about the specifics of this limited Pop-up Shop, in place from January 14-February 26, first floor of the Partnership Tower on Avenidas de las Americas, next to the GRB check them out on their Facebook page, www.facebook.com/launchHTX/
Thank you so much!! We loved the article.
Happy that you liked the article on all of Houston’s talented designers, including yourself, @brendagrands.com