LADIES FIRST

She’s Gotta

LELE SADOUGHI

Lele Sadoughi knows how to make a woman feel like a queen.

Her bejeweled headbands look and feel like crowns, and they have adorned quite a few famous pates, including Kate Middleton’s.

Sadoughi, whose name is pronounced “lee-lee sahdoogie,” has moved back home to Dallas and opened a pink jewel box of a boutique in Highland Park Village.

“We’ve been thinking about it, and with Covid I realized that we can do things remotely,” says Sadoughi, who relocated from New York last summer with her husband and two children. “My whole family is here — my parents and my sisters. Between my sisters and my cousins, my kids have 21 cousins here. They were like, ‘Can we move here?’”

Sadoughi worked for a couple of decades in New York for Rebecca Taylor and J. Crew, where she famously launched the brand’s jewelry collection and bestselling “bubble” necklace.

In 2012, she went out on her own with bedazzled headbands and jewelry, later adding sunglasses, handbags, socks, hats, scarves, gloves, and masks. Her zesty headbands have been widely copied, but that is not slowing her down.

“People want over-the-top crazy jeweled pieces, and that’s what I love to do,” she says over freshpressed green juice at Highland Park Village. “It’s all about innovation. While we sell basics every day, they want the special pieces because that is not being copied.”

Attired in an orange and cream Delpozo jacket over an orange Rachel Comey dress and her own brand of sunglasses, earrings, headband, and handbag, Sadoughi is a walking advertisement for colorful style. She made a mint in masks, selling more than half a million in 2020 — many with matching headbands. Offered in kids and adult sizes, Sadoughi’s printed masks feature a contoured fit and adjustable ear loops. “Masks has been an insane category that gave us record revenue,” she says. “I get emails weekly from moms saying, ‘Can you please make more kids’ ones? My kids only wear your masks.’”

HANH MERRIMAN

Jet setter and former style blogger Hanh Merriman combined her Vietnamese heritage and innate style in Hanh Collection, a new label.

The capsule group of dresses, tops, pants, and outerwear in solid hues and delicate floral prints reflects “what we absolutely love,” says Merriman.

“These designs are the reflection of my many years as a lover, observer, and interpreter of fashion,” she says. “I’ve always been fascinated by women’s relationship with fashion—what we want to wear and why, and how that answer changes over time. This collection is an answer for women in this moment and moving forward.”

Have It

Three Dallas fashion brands understand what women want, and they’re delivering. — Holly Haber

Above and lower left: Looks from Hanh Collection

Her namesake dress, the Hanh, features a traditional Vietnamese áo dài silhouette — a streamlined dress in solid white or black viscose with vented three-quarter sleeves and a double-layer skirt.

“This dress means so much to me as it was inspired by my mother’s wedding gown,” Merriman says. “It was an important influence when I started designing my own collections.”

The label, which is available at hanhcollection.com, will offer two collections a year.

“Our next capsule will play a lot more with pops of color and texture,” she promises. “We’re exploring bolder, stronger patterns — more jacquards and specialty prints. We’ll continue to play with mixing pleats and traditional fabrics with more traditional ones.”

LA VIE STYLE HOUSE

Few items of clothing are as easy to wear as the caftan, that gently shaped dress that flatters all.

The simple classic launched brand La Vie Style House when entrepreneurs Jamie Coulter and Lindsey McClain stitched them in eye-catching fabrics.

“They’re fun and colorful and you can wear them day to night just by changing shoes,” Coulter says. “It’s a great way to look cute and be comfortable.”

Their textiles boast surface interest or shine, like lace, feathers, brocade, satin, and sequins. Some are vintage and others are overstock from top fashion houses, such as a leftover brocade from Oscar de la Renta.

The duo has also expanded into kimono-inspired wrap dresses, oversize shirts, slip dresses, and relaxed dusters. All of the clothing is made locally and is one-size-fits-most.

The two women originally operated a styling business founded in 2013. They were successful, landing clients

Photo by Shelby Webster

Lindsey McClain, left, and Jamie Coulter of La Vie Style House

such as American Express and Ben Carson during his presidential bid.

“It was a lot of work — more than we realized,” Coulter recalls. “We wanted to spend more time with our kids.”

In 2016 the pair tried on the same dress, a caftan, and were surprised that it looked good on them both despite McClain being five inches taller. They decided to make caftans as a side project, selling them to friends “for fun,” McClain says.

The following year, McClain wore one of the designs to a party in the Hamptons on Long Island, where a Barneys executive spotted her and asked to carry the collection. It was fashion’s golden seal of approval, lasting for seven seasons until Barneys closed.

Shop La Vie Style House at their monobrand boutique in Highland Park Village and online at laviestylehouse.com and matchesfashion.com.

In addition, there’s a new store in Houston and plans for one in New York.