LAUNCH to host debut fashion show at Discovery Green

Fashion Show to Feature More Than 40 Designers, alongside Headline Designer Chloe Dao

photo: Dao Chloe Dao

Spring is soon to bloom as LAUNCH, a downtown-area pop-up boutique, collaborates with Discovery Green® to host its first fashion show featuring local designers. 

The show will take place on Saturday, January 26 from 5 – 8 p.m. at Discovery Green, the 12-acre urban park located at downtown’s Avenida Houston.

photo: LAUNCH

“We are thrilled to collaborate with Discovery Green to host LAUNCH’s first fashion show and market place,” said Sydney Dao, director of retail for Houston First. “This partnership will allow some of Houston’s most unique and talented designers to make their dreams a reality on the runway while attracting new audiences to LAUNCH.”

Free and open to the public, this celebration of style will give more than 40 Houston-based apparel and accessories designers the opportunity to showcase their talents on the runway.

Designer Chloe Dao, winner of Project Runway Season 2, will headline the show, which will also include Of Myth & Muse, Marilyn Biles, Edwige Pierre, Magpies & Peacocks and Kimono Zulu, among others.   

photo: Kimono Zulu

Each look will reflect Houston’s sophistication and edge. Wellness salon and spa Riot Salon HTX will provide hair and makeup and DJ Little Martin will provide live runway music.

Fashion and art will collide as the park’s winter art installation, GUST: Celebrating a Decade of Discovery, commissioned from Mexico City-based design studio Cocolab, illuminates the show’s runway.

photo: Discovery Green

Composed of nearly 2,000 custom-made pinwheels installed along Discovery Green’s Brown Foundation Promenade, the work is animated by fluctuating breezes as well as interactions with the public, creating a kinetic field of color under Discovery Green’s live oak allée.

Fashion-forward guests are invited to shop before and after the show at the Pop-Up Market located on the Hess Patio Deck. The market will have products from more than 20 LAUNCH vendors, including Chloe Dao, Modern Artifacts, Inclan, Brenda Grands, Diverscity and more.

Diverscity Crush City Astronaut Baseball Tee

The evening will roll on with an after party on Discovery Green’s Brown Promenade with DJ Little Martin spinning the latest hits as the models line the runway, giving guests a closer look at designers’ products. GUST activation stations along the promenade will allow guests to “be the breeze” and fully interact with the pinwheels.

LAUNCH is located on the ground floor of Houston First Corp.’s Partnership Tower at 701 Avenida De Las Americas. The hours are from 10 a.m. – 6 p.m. Monday – Saturday.

Shoppers visiting the boutique can park in Avenida North Parking Garage or take the Green Line on the Metro Rail to the Convention District. 

Follow LAUNCH on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram at @launchHTX to learn more about the designers, artists and news.

Featured photo: V. Sweeten