From LOT 8 boutique to Chloe Dao boutique

Hi everyone,

Happy New Year! I have so much to tell you guys there are so many changes that is happening for my business.

I've been working so hard in all this I did not have time to write. Finally, I have moment to breathe and share all the news.

The biggest is Lot 8 boutique will be Chloe Dao boutique now. It does make me a little sad to lose Lot 8 but I'm so excited about embracing the future of my brand. Lot 8 will always be my heart.

Here is a sneak peak of my brand identity.

What do you think?

The second biggest new is the remodeling of my boutique.

If you live in Houston near the Rice Village you would have seen all the crazy construction that we've been doing.

Here are some pictures:

The new boutique will be much more intimate. It I am really concentrating on me and my brand. Of course, we will still carry other designers, especially local designers. I have poured heart and soul in this remodeling. This new boutique will reflect my personal style and taste on all things not just clothes. You will really get all of me.

Here a sneak peak of the new boutique:

With any changes, the old have to go. We are having a big remodeling sale and fabric sale. Clothes and accessories up to 75% off. We have a temporary store, same location.

Fabrics such as silk charmuese, silk chiffon and gorgeous brocade everything under $10. Ok, this is a sick sale. I wanted to buy my own fabric back with those prices. But I really wanted to let go of fabrics I have been using and hoarding all this years and start fresh. For all my designers and crafty creative soul this sale is for you.

This fabric sale does start official on Monday. Start creating people.

See you at my next blog.

Love Life,
Love Fashion,
Love,

Chloe

Chloe Dao for Nuo at Zappos.com

Hi everyone,

Happy Holidays!

This season I am excited to let you guys know my electronic accessories are at Zappos now!! I love them. I have gotten a lot of my shoes there b/c of free shipping and of course, they have shoes for my tiny feet, size 5.

I love how they have video presentations for all their products. So they have inspired me to do so with my bags and luggage for Nuo.


Enjoy the video!

My bags and luggage are also available at Staples and Lot 8 if you want to touch and feel them for yourself. For online stores, shop at ShopNuo.com, Ebags.com, and of course, Staples.com. These are great gifts for the Fashionistas in your life. Stylish but not too trendy.

Happy Holidays!

Love,
Chloe

www.chloedao.com

Spring 2011 Trunk Show

Happy Holidays!



I hope to see everyone at my trunk show tomorrow at Lot 8, from 12-6pm. I will be there to help you with the collection.


Enjoy the video,




Love Life,
Love Fashion,
Love,

Chloe

Worlds AIDS Day denim jacket

Good afternoon!

I'm blogging today to let you all know about a little side project for Worlds AIDS Day, December 1st I have been working on. I was asked by Cesar Galindo to take an ordinary denim jacket and turn it into my own design. The challenge was to take the XL jacket from Salvation Army and design something that was sleek and feminine. Most of the time people just add embellishments and call it a day, I wanted to add details that I love like interesting lines and seams.

Here is a behind the scenes video from start to finish. Please bid on this jacket at the lunching all the profit goes to charity!

Designer Workshop, Nov 19th

Hi Everyone,

It is kind of apropos I am writing this blog today about the Designer Workshop b/c today I spoke to 32 Fashion/ Merchandising students from H.C.C. textile class. They had a field trip at my design studio. I thought it was just going to be about fabrics but it turned into a Q&A session about the fashion industry and my work history.

So if you were ever curious about the fashion industry and always wanted to asked me questions too, here is your chance. I am part of the group of panelists hosted by F.G.I. Houston and at the Art Institute of Houston at the Designer Workshop this Sat. from 10am-12:30 p.m. there will be experts for each category: Design/Production, Marketing/Branding, Retail/Buying, and Finance. I will be in Design /Production. You will get a 30 minute session with each group.

For more info go to www. fgihouston.com

I wish I had something like this to go to when I was starting off.

Here is the invite and a little video of me talking about it.

I hope to see everyone there.

Love Life,

Love Fashion,

Love,

Chloe Dao

Fall 2011 Photo Shoot with Cody Bess

Hi,

Fall is finally here!!! Yippeee! As I am writing this, the cold front is coming here to Houston. It will probably last for 3 days but I will take it any time over this heat in November.

It always feels more like the holidays are here when it is cold outside. We are always looking forward to and hoping for a real winter here.

Since it is going to be cold outside tomorrow, enjoy the behind the scene Fall 2011 Photo Shoot with Cody Bess.

If you like any dresses and do not live in Houston you can finally go to my website www. chloedao.com. It is finally back up and running thanks to Dimitry Chamy at www. 2urn.com. He has been amazing to work with. He does everything from brand identity to website development. He is pretty much redesigning my brand and logo for me.

He and I are still tweaking things so bare with us for the slight changes in the future, but I'm so happy Dimitry got it up and running.

I hope you like the new logo, slightly different but still very me.

We will be adding more designs to the website soon.

Love Life,

Love Fashion,

Love,

Chloe

P0sing 101 by Marc Harvey

Hi,

I am so sorry I have not posted for awhile but I have been doing so much catching work since the fashion show.

I decided to keep you entertained with this behind the scene clipsof Marc " Working It " at my Fall 2009 photo shoot. Beside the modeling and hilarity, he was the makeup artist and hair stylist extraordinaire on the shoot. This makes me smile and laugh still to this day. Good old fashion fun.

Enjoy,

Love Life,

Love Fashion,

Love,

Chloe Dao

Spring 2012 Runway Pictures

Hi,

I am still editing the video version of Spring 2012 Runway. For now, enjoy the pictures. You know a collection is good when you do not hate it by the end of the process.

I still love this collection. . It is Bold and Beautiful. Thank you, Jay Marroquin for the pictures. Visit his website at www.jaymarroquin.com

Tell me what you think?

Love Life,

Love Fashion,

Love,

Chloe

My Dancing Queen, my niece Lauren Chauv

Hi,

While I'm waiting to get my videos and pictures of my fashion show together for y'all, I will keep you entertained with my very funny and always entertaining niece, Lauren Chauv.

She used to work with me everyday until she had to go to school. All of us missed her here at the studio.

One of my favorite memories of Lauren is when I was in a meeting with Ty from www. ShopNuo.com. He drove from Austin for this meeting so it was important. We were sitting at the conference table, across from each other and going over design details, when at the corner of my eye, I saw a moving blanket, slowly creeping toward the table.

Lauren was underneath the blanket. She thought she was invisible and started to very smoothly crawl passed Ty, underneath the table and me. I was slightly embarrassed but more entertained than anything. I miss those days. She still makes me laugh just not everyday like she used too.

So enjoy this video, I hope she makes you smile too.

<

Love Life,

Love Fashion,

Love,

Chloe Dao

Fitting with Runway models, Spring 2012

Hi,

The show is over and I am very happy. Everyone loved it. I will continued posting video of the

making of it and more behind the scene.

We fitted the models on Sunday Oct. 9th.

We only had 13 models to fit but sometime when you get 3 0r for at once it gets to be a bit

overwhelming. Thank goodness, we have a big team and I was wondering if we needed

everyone with us but it turns out we did.

Here is the behind scene footages. Enjoy.

Love Life,

Love Fashion,

Love,

Chloe Dao

Music for Spring 2012, DJ Little Martin

Hi,

Tomorrow is the show and I am still working on the music for my collection. I have been searching for the right songs for about 2 weeks. It has been quite difficult.

I am very lucky to work with DJ Little Martin. He alway gives me history lesson on music. If you ever need a DJ he is the best b/c he is so knowledgable. Best of all, he just wants to make his clients happy.

I have finally decide on the music today. We shot this video about 9 days ago. I have changed the music direction a few times already.

Music is done , now the show is complete.

Enjoy this video, see how confused I was.

For tickets:

www.Fashionhouston.net

Love Life,

Love Fashion,

Love,

Chloe

Styling Spring 2012 with Elaine Turner

Hi,

I love styling my collection b/c I know the end is near. This year I am so very lucky to have Elaine Turner gorgeous bags and shoes to complete and compliment my looks.

Enjoy this video of us styling.

I have to get back to work in the collection. I have 2 days left before the show.

For tickets:

Go to www. Fashionhouston.net

If you can not make it to the show, we are throwing an "After Party" come by and see the collection up close at Venue. Hope to see you at the Wortham or at Venue.

Love Life,

Love Fashion,

Love,

Chloe Dao

Spring 2012, First Fitting w/ Erica

Hi,

Today this blog is about the first fitting of the Spring 2012 collection. I do all my first fittings on my fit model, Erica. I do that b/c it lets me see if the fit is right. Most of all I get to really see if I like the design or not. A great model makes your design better than you could imagine.

Being a small company, I need to design a collection that can translate well on the runway into a sellable collection. It is always a dance of compromises. I love designing wearable clothes but sometimes I would love to just go crazy and make very time consuming haute couture pieces.

In this video, you will see me trying to sell some of the designs to my team b/c they think it will not do well on the floor. It is not all about just being creative in fashion it is about being creative and being able to sell. It is a daily struggle but a smart designer, understands the challenges in order to "make it work".

You saw in earlier video of me starting to drape the Binny dress, well she is back in and not happy.

Enjoy,

For tickets for my show:

http://www.fashionhouston.net/

Love Life,

Love Fashion,

Love,

Chloe

Spring 2012 sketches and Naming Them

Good morning,

Sorry, I could not post yesterday. I actually had to go out last night to show my support for a friend. It was a nice break from constantly working on this collection. I really needed that. It is coming up soon to the deadline, Oct 12th........!!!!!

Holey Moley ( did I spell that right?)

One of the fun and frustrating things about creating a new collection is naming the new designs. They are all my babies, I see them as my children. So when I name them I have to find the right name that suits their personalities. Believe me, they all have personalities. It is not easy b/c I am a very bias Mom. I sound a little crazy here but I acknowledge it.

If you are wondering why the sketches are all flat instead of croquis. I just like it that way and it is much more understandable when you start draping the pattern to see a clear outlined drawing. I do first sketches on croquis. Then my assistants turn the sketches to flats so that they can photoshop prints on it and have a very precise placement of seams for pattern work.

Enjoy this video,

For tickets for Spring 2012 collection:

www.Fashionhouston.net

Love life,

Love Fashion,

Love,

Chloe

Draping 2012 and Being a smart business woman.

Good Day everyone,

I get a lot of praises for being a smart business woman.

So this video really tells you how I became so successful.. :)

Please excuse my messy design studio but it is what it is.

My collection is almost done. I am working on 4 more pieces. I am excited to style my collection with Elaine Turner accessories today. That is the fun part. I will post that video later this week.

Remember to get tickets for the show at:

www.fashionhouston.net

Love Life,

Love Fashion,

Love,

Chloe Dao

Spring 2011, Sneak Peaks, First day

Good morning,

It is midnight, Monday morning and I am writing this blog. I am very excited about this blog b/c I am really opening my world to you. From today on, I will be posting behind the scene video blogs of the making of Spring 2012 collection. I have always loved the "behind the scene" of anything creative and I thought why not share my process. I always love watching and seeing how other designers work. I am nosy like everyone else.

I get a lot of questions about how do I start a collection? So here is all the good, the bad and the ugly. I am keeping it "real."

Follow me through this collection and I hope you learn a lot of what it takes to create a collection in 4 weeks.

I will be showing this collection at the Wortham Center, Oct 12th. We are partnering up with Elaine Turner and styling my collection with her shoes and bags.

Here is the links.for tickets:

http://www.fashionhouston.net/index.php

Love Life,

Love Fashion,

Love,

Chloe

Spring 2012 Inspiration Board

Good afternoon everyone!

As promised here is my spring 2012 inspiration board. It is very 60's Mod, bright colors, and bold prints. Very on trend with what is happening at New York Fashion Week.

Stay tuned for behind the scenes pictures and sketches for the upcoming collection.

Bye!

NYC trip 2

Hi,

OMG! I can not believe it has been that long since my last post. I have been busy working on Fall production and time just flew by and I forgot I have not updated.

Well, here it part2 of NYC trip. Here are some silly pictures. Jessica and Sasha are my two assistants and it was Jessica first time in NYC. So we definitely needed to take her to Time Square. It was crowded and chaotic but truly NY.

We went fabric shopping for Spring 2012 collection. I will post the inspiration board for that next week.

Enjoy the pictures and thank for sticking around for my very belated blog.

Love life,
Love Fashion,
Love,
Chloe

Hello friends,

I finally have a moment to breathe and reflect on my trip to NYC.

One of the main reasons to go on this trip was to see the Alexander McQueen Exhibition before it was closed.

Anyone who is a designer or loves fashion mourned the death of this great designer. For me at least, I will always be sadden by his death b/c he was so young and talented.

I truly love his work and am always in awe of it. There are very few designers that can take you to a different place, mind set and emotion. McQueen takes you beyond the normal realm. When looking at his work, I know that he is touched by a Higher Being. There is a spiritualism to his designs, it is dark and beautiful and most of all thoughtful. There is always a story or history lesson being told. It is never a collection about colors,style or trend. It is an education.

His fashion shows, were not your typical show. It was pure theater, a full production. I so regret missing his only show in NYC. I had the invite but NYC was under a hurricane warning, it was very apropos, a night for a McQueen show.I was working as an assistant to a great buyer. We were going to all the fashions shows and showrooms during Fashion Week from 8 am-10 pm everyday. It was all very exciting the first few days and then it became exhausting. Sadly McQueen's show was the end of Fashion Week and btw the hurricane warning and fashion fatigue I missed the show.

But there is a slightly happier note, I was in the same room and 3 ft away from him at the Miguel Androver show earlier that week. Miquel and McQueen were friends and he was there to show his support. McQueen was already the darling of the fashion world then. I wanted to approach him just to say I love his work but everyone there was playing it cool and I did not have the nerve. He was just sitting there across from me and so normal and calm.It was enough for me just to be in the same room with him.


Since, I missed the opportunity to show my respect and admiration for his work to him personally and missed his show, I was not going to miss his exhibition at Metropolitan Museum.

It was a mad house b/c we went to see it 3 days before the closing. But it was so worth it to see the clothes and accessories so completely up close and personal.

Long line....

Jessica

I love and respect McQueen even more after listening to the stories told by Sarah Burton, Phillip Tracey and so many that have worked with him. I did not realized the extent of his talent. McQueen can cut a perfect jacket without a pattern, he cut it straight from the fabric by his pure knowledge. That is skill. You must bow to that.

McQueen is a master of his craft and a true artist. I was very fortunate to view his work in person.


Here is a great link from the Metropolitan Museum on the exhibition. You will feel as if you have been transported to this great designers exhibition. There are great videos and pictures. Enjoy and be awed and inspired.



http://blog.metmuseum.org/alexandermcqueen/



Side story, I saw Narciso Rodriquez at the exhibition. I was not going to miss this chance to tell him how much I love his work. He was surrounded by his team and I was a bit intimidated at first. But I went up to him, reach out my hand and said,"I love your work." Some of his team members gave me the up and down inspection and I tried to hide my feet. I was not feeling completely fashion perfect b/c I had busted nails, they were chipping and in desperate need of a pedicure. I become a bit insecure and quickly walked away. I really wanted to ask to take a picture with him and say more but my insecurity over my stupid feet got the best of me. What I really wanted to say was,"Hi,I am Chloe Dao from PR I truly love your work and always wish you were one of the judges on my season." But I didn't, I was a little disappointed with myself about it but glad I said something. I guess one step at a time with nice polished toes, next time.


Love Life,Love Fashion,

Love,

Chloe

Model Search

Hello to all my lovely friends,


I have been watching Bravo's " Million Dollar Decorator's and now I want to talk like Martyn Lawrence Bullard. "Life is deeeliciousss darling". How does that sound? Love it. I watch the show and think, "OMG, I want to live in that world. It's so glamorous."

People think the same of Fashion designers, don't you know we are always looking undeniably chic. I wish. I do confess, I can glam it up when I have to but in my daily life, if I look presentable and not homeless I am please with myself. This is the tragic pitfall of working from home/design studio. Laziness creeps up on you and the next thing you know, it is acceptable to work in your pajamas. Hugh Hefner was ahead of his time, I tell you.

I need to stop digressing and write about the model search contest we are having. I am looking for a model to be the face of my Spring 2012 collection, debuting in Oct. The winner will also receives a photo shoot with photographer Cody Bess, scholarship to Mayo-Hill School for Modeling and Acting, one year contract with Neal Hamil Modeling Agency, and $400 gift certificate from Elementwo cosmetics.

Here is the info:

Fresh Face of Spring - Chloe Dao Modeling Contest from cody bess on Vimeo.

Photo shoots are the one time when it is truly glamorous to be in fashion. I love photo shoots because you see the transformation of the model. A great model is a chameleon. Once she steps in front of the camera there is this moment when you know she has it or not. Witnessing a great model at work is truly like watching a performance. I really do not know how to describe it, it's kind of magical. There is so much beauty in it. The way she moves that flows but always beautiful. I guess the word I am looking for is, "lyrical". It is smooth and dreamy.


I get tons of emails and messages asking me how I choose my models. I usually work with an agency but some times I do my own casting. Well, for all those who think they have it. I This is the contest for you. I am looking for the new fresh face. I am very excited to see the submission. Good luck ladies!

Love life,
Love Fashion,
Love,
Chloe