Issue link: http://papercitymagazine.uberflip.com/i/1020281
good shops. There was Maxfield and Fred Segal, and that was it. There was nothing cool and young and emerging. I had been so surrounded by that in New York, and I traveled a lot to Dover Street Market in London, Corso Como in Milan, and Colette in Paris. I was so disappointed by the retail scene that I decided to move out of styling and design and into retail. It was a way to support the people I knew who were young designers and young artists and put it all under one roof. It was the first concept store — no one was doing anything like that in L.A. Now, there's so much great retail there. That is one of the many reasons I knew it was time to leave. When you opened Tenoversix in Dallas, did you ever imagine you would end up running Forty Five Ten as well? No! That's the interesting and surprising and lovely thing about life. It always surprises you. Even when we were building our home in Austin, we were like, 'We think we'll be here for a while.' But we know enough to know — and we know ourselves enough to know — that who knows. We'll see where life brings us. Definitely, this was unexpected. If I told my 21-year-old self that I'd be moving to Texas, I'd be like, 'What?!' But it's surprising, and I'm legitimately very excited. Tell us about the 21-year-old self. What formative moments shaped your career? At NYU, I majored in international business and economics and minored in women's studies. I thought I wanted to do something with women and something philanthropic. But I was around the fashion scene. Sex and the City was on. Pat Fields was in my neighborhood. I was really into editorial shoots and magazines, and I got into styling. I wanted to be part of that visual world and took a sharp turn. I got an internship at a fashion blog. I started going to Parsons. And it quickly turned into a fashion career. I designed for Theory. I designed shoes for all sorts of different designers. I did a lot of runway collaborations and a lot of celebrity styling, editorial styling, and commercial styling. I fully delved into that world. And then came another pivot: from styling and design into retail. Starting Tenoversix was a nice moment for me to synthesize all my interests in design, fashion, editorial, and creative direction. When you curate a store, you have an opportunity to create a story — I hate to use the word curate — and manifest all these synergies between different disciplines. I like creating a little world for people to come into, get out of the real world, and get inspired. Creating a fantasy world is very much what we do at the magazine. And it's a service — especially in these times. You talked about women's issues. That's very topical right now. I hire talented women. I buy a lot of collections that are designed by women and women-led companies. I'm co- chairing something in Austin for Planned Parenthood. My husband and I support women artists As a total feminist, it has always been top of mind for me. I think it's good in fashion to have that consciousness. I work in a fun — I don't want to say frivolous — field. You know, it's not essential. It's the fun and the fluff of life. It's important and inspiring and good for our souls. But at the same time, I want to make sure I'm always supporting good people. When you brought Tenoversix to Dallas it was — and still is — very much a one- of-a-kind concept; a lot of Dallasites had a tricky time understanding the brand. It was a great moment to learn to stick to my guns and not adapt to location. I had that moment of: 'Do we buy this selection for Dallas, from what everyone has told me about how Dallas women dress and what Dallas women want? Or, do we just do our thing and see what happens?' We just did our thing and put in the most progressive, cool independent design we could find — and women were interested. When you look at the history of Forty Five Ten and when Brian Bolke first opened the store on McKinney Avenue, it's that same subversive driving force that made it a success. The same ethos! That's one of the really nice things about coming on board with Forty Five Ten: There are a lot of conceptual synergies. I love the work that Brian did. I think it was really ahead of its time, and I'm happy to continue that conversation and move it into more of the national, international marketplace. Forty Five Ten set a powerful foundation for fashion in Dallas. With technology and accessibility, the world is smaller. We all know what's going on and we're all very aware. So, we can bring the best of the best here and it's not like people aren't going to understand what's going on at Balenciaga or Céline or Molly Goddard. People understand. We're all connected. Does the influencer culture play a role in what you do? I don't take influencers into consideration at all. I don't follow influencers. I'm not interested. They're doing interesting stuff — but it's not for me. It's more for the designers. I don't think it affects retail in a direct way. What does influence you? I don't look to competition. I don't care what other retailers are doing. I've always just wanted to do my thing — follow a very pure aesthetic, a very pure point of view, and just do it. I follow artists. I follow designers. I read a lot. With big risk, comes big reward. How do you plan on manifesting your (and Headington Companies') retail mission? "I LIKE CREATING A LITTLE WORLD FOR PEOPLE TO COME INTO, GET OUT OF THE REAL WORLD, AND GET INSPIRED." — Kristen Cole 104