Mix, a pantheon of high fashion in Houston, has come a long way but a short distance.
The retailer has settled into a custom-built 4,500-square-foot home directly across Colquitt Street from where it started in 1999 in the living room of proprietor Evelyn Gorman.
After helping to introduce avant-garde designers to the city, Mix grew quickly and by 2002 moved four blocks from Gorman’s living room into a 2,800-square-foot storefront on Kirby Street, near the affluent River Oaks district, with Balenciaga, Alexander McQueen and Chloé among its leading labels.
The sale of the land where Mix stood prompted the need to find a new location within a few years. Gorman and her husband, John, who is chief financial officer of Mix as well as an energy consultant, found a bungalow across from their home. She called New York architect Albert Marichal and gave him carte blanche — the bungalow went in order to build a new Mix. Marichal had renovated the Kirby Street location into Mix, and he kept a strong line of visual continuity in Mix’s new building while warming up the interior with rich wood.
“It’s a retailer’s dream to have your own space and design it from the ground up,” Gorman said. “We knew we wanted something unique.”
The dramatic architecture is a statement. The independent boutique is a bastion of chic, featuring city exclusives for spring on collections such as Givenchy, Alberta Ferretti, Junya Watanabe, Rick Owens, Paul Smith, Rachel Roy, SHIRT by Comme des Garçons, Thakoon and Thomas Maier, among others.
The exterior of the three-story store that opened in May is wrapped in pale gray Italian cement board trimmed with caramel Spanish cedar. The effect is as if the structure is clothed in these materials. The look is mimicked inside where the same materials are used along with blond birch ceilings and floors.
Daylight pours in through floor-to-ceiling windows that provide views of mature live oak trees — a species native to Texas. It all evokes a gallery-like ambience in which Gorman shows her pricy blends of style, much of it on austere modular aluminum fixtures.
Beyond the first-floor garden, offices and restrooms, shoppers ascend to sportswear and shoes on two; ready-to-wear, handbags, accessories and jewelry on three, and a rooftop terrace that has a separate entrance and is furnished for entertaining.
Related Articles
You May Also Like
The striking architecture has resonated with Gorman’s sophisticated customers.
“I never realized until we opened and got our first, ‘Ahhh,’ what an important component the architecture turned out to be,” Gorman said. “Our customers are spirited, independent women who have an appreciation for something special, and they appreciate what we have done with this building and the contribution we have made to the cityscape.”
The opening price point is $110 for a T-shirt to as much as $15,000 for an extravagant runway gown. A suit averages $2,500.
However, Gorman has noticed a new mood among customers.
“People are reevaluating how much money they spend and how much time they spend,” she said. “The desire for simplicity has grown to an all-time high. The exaggerated, overembellished looks of the past…have given way to more minimalism and a simpler approach to dressing. I think this is a major shift that’s been coming for a while. The mood and situation in the world is, ‘What the heck is going on? And what are we going to do to fix it?’ It’s very relevant to the way people are living and spending. There’s a psychology to spending, and right now we’re at a point in time where people are staying closer to home both emotionally and physically.”
Still, she believes Mix’s new home will boost sales 25 percent in 2007, although she declined to reveal sales data.
With the added space, Mix has gone deeper into casual sportswear and American designers while beefing up the selection of handbags and shoes. The bulk — 70 percent — remains European, led by Balenciaga, Chloé, Rochas, Alexander McQueen and Miu Miu.
“We have more demand for casual,” Gorman explained. “A lot of young clients with children run around all day and need casual clothes. We’re in a bigger store now, and we have to be more things to more people while maintaining the focus that all of these things have to hang under one roof, and the quality has to be there, and the design and fit.”
She’s bringing in Trovata and Nili Lotan for casual chic, and has been picking up more American designers, such as Rachel Roy.
“There is so much talent here, and I really took a lot of time in New York over the time span of the pre-season collections and New York Fashion Week and I found a lot,” Gorman said. “The way it has evolved, I buy what I like.”
Mix’s expanded shoe salon now houses a wider selection of Miu Miu, Lanvin, Bruno Fresoni, Olivia Morris, Givenchy and Anya Hindmarch. Likewise, Gorman has bought deeper into bags by Givenchy, Balenciaga, Alexander McQueen, Vaza and Anya Hindmarch. Her jewelry selection is limited to Garrard, jeweler to the Queen of England, and Jade Jagger.
“I keep a tight focus on what I do, which is catering to independent women who appreciate quality and want something different,” Gorman said.