Issue link: http://papercitymagazine.uberflip.com/i/1020281
K risten Cole's new charge is a heady one: Expand both brands into new markets (Forty Five Ten Aspen and a gargantuan flagship in New York's Hudson Yards are on the way); evolve the stores' creative visions; and lead Headington Companies' retail strategy. Yet Kristen and her husband- collaborator, Joe Cole, are no strangers to Headington Companies. Kristen brought Tenoversix to Dallas as part of Headington's Joule hotel lobby expansion, while her husband came on board as a creative consultant, advising Headington Companies' hospitality, restaurant, interior design, retail, branding, and programming concepts. Shortly after opening Tenoversix here, the couple left L.A. — they shuttered the L.A. Tenoversix in 2017 — and moved to Austin, where Kristen was creative director of luxury retailer ByGeorge. Since taking the Headington helm, Kristen has kept a relatively low-profile, as she quietly made changes corporately and cosmetically to both Forty Five Ten and Tenoversix. But on this balmy August afternoon, six months after her career shift and a week before she moved into her new Preston Hollow home, Kristen Cole is finally ready to chat. We take a seat in a quiet corner of the bar at Mirador — Kristen, casual-cool in a Rosetta Getty skirt, Céline pumps, and a Balenciaga blouse — for what evolved into an hour- long conversation about everything from feminism to the nitty-gritty of running a bourgeoning retail empire. One thing is certain: Kristen is far more than a creative mind. She is direct and savvy, with an uncompromising vision. And she is ready to get down to business. Let's start at the beginning. Nutshell: I grew up on the East Coast in suburban New Jersey, spent summers on Cape Cod. I'm an East Coast girl. NYU for undergrad and Parsons School of Design for graduate school in fashion design. Lived in New York for my 20s. Lived in L.A. for most of my 30s. I've been in Austin for the last three and a half years. Those are two big transitions. And I'm about to do it again, moving from Austin to Dallas. I kept an apartment in New York forever. I still have roots there. It was very formative — all of my early fashion, design, and styling jobs were there. My fashion community, by and large, is there. You'll be here full-time? Yes. We just bought a house here. And we're getting an apartment in New York this fall. You'll be spending a lot of time in New York with Forty Five Ten opening in Hudson Yards. Well, I always go a lot. I'm basically there every other month — and with the store opening, I'll probably be there once a month. Your new Dallas home. Preston Hollow. I'm really excited about the move to Dallas. It's going to be nice to sink my teeth into everything here. The decorating process. Is that a big thing for you? I'm equally interested in fashion and design. Part of my forming Tenoversix was wanting to put fashion and design and everything that speaks the same language — that's part of the same community — under one roof. The house we're moving into is gallery-like. It's very white-box simple, so it will be mostly about our art and our furniture. What art are you collecting? My husband and I have a collection of mostly contemporary art and a little bit modern. Some '60s and '70s modern like Laddie John Dill and Julian Stanczak, which is all very cubist and very modern. Contemporary art … we have Katherine Bradford, Katherine Bernhardt, Tony Matelli (which we absolutely love), John Riepenhoff … a lot of younger cool contemporary artists. You and your husband live, work, create together. How does that all work? We met in New York when we were in our early 20s and have been working and collaborating and doing different things together — and apart — ever since. Your engagement ring is gorgeous. It's vintage Art Deco from the '30s. My husband and I got it in Los Angeles, where we got engaged. We got married in Palm Springs. It's onyx and diamonds. I wear a lot of contemporary designs, for sure — but I do love vintage, and we are going to have a bigger component of vintage jewelry at Forty Five Ten and Tenoversix. Tell me about the beginning of Tenoversix. It was the result of moving to Los Angeles and being in a void landscape of good retail. No one can even imagine that now because L.A. has become such a Mecca, but when we moved to Silver Lake in 2008, there were no Kristen Cole photographed at Forty Five Ten 103