Fashion is back
Mother-daughter design team visit Houston for inspiration
When Tootsies, a high-end department store near River Oaks, was brainstorming designers to showcase on the runway for this year’s Latin Women’s Initiative fashion show, Silvia Tcherassi came to mind. The brand, a colorful collection of women’s fashion based in Miami, is a favorite of bold-faced philanthropists and Initiative supporters, such as Michele Leal and Erika Toussaint.
With luncheons and galas returning to social calendars this fall, Houstonians are ready to refresh their closets with black-tie sequins and cocktail frocks.
Knowing this, Tcherassi did her research. “After checking many social photos, I can say the Houston woman is unapologetically elegant.”
Last week the brand’s founder touched down in Houston with daughter Sofia Tcherassi, 23, marking the design duo’s inaugural visit to the Bayou City. The younger Tcherassi, a Parsons School of Design graduate, joined the family business as ready-towear director in May 2020.
“We complement each other very well,” Sofia says of working with her mother. “I’ve been with the company since I was born in one way or another.”
Silvia agrees — it’s a good match. “I don’t let age or a specific nationality influence when I design, but I do keep in mind details.” So do the women she dresses.
Finding inspiration in art
Their Houston customer has access to the city’s world-renowned Museum District, so that became the Tcherassis’ first stop in town.
“We found a lot of inspiration, mostly in (the) Cy Twombly (Gallery). I studied him a bit in college and seeing so much of his work was great,” Sofia says. They also visited the Menil Collection and Rothko Chapel.
Silvia agrees with her daughter: Twombly’s work struck a chord. The late painter’s inclination toward romantic symbolism reminded the designer of the tie-dyed fabric she explored for her resort season collection.
Those pieces — caftans, tunics, cardigans, pants and blouses — appeared on the Houston runway alongside pre-fall and fall winter, too.
The woman who wears Silvia Tcherassi enjoys fashion, aspires to be different and is the opposite of someone who follows the trends, she adds. Instead, her customer values a personal sense of style, unique point of view and aesthetic — much like Silvia.
Before turning to fashion, she started out as an interior designer in her native Colombia, where the first Silvia Tcherassi boutique opened in 1991. Six years later the designer moved across the Carribbean to Miami, her company’s current headquarters and the
home of her second brick-andmortar shop.
No wallflowers
From a brand identity perspective, it all tracks. She makes happy clothes for a well-traveled, well-heeled clientele. The kind who might throw on a floor-skimming maxi dress or two-piece matching set to host an impromptu dinner party. Or throw a ruffled skirt or highwaisted short over a swimsuit for drinks on the beach. The pieces aren’t precious, though they are suitcase-friendly. And wallflowers need not apply; Silvia Tcherassi’s calling cards are prints, patterns, texture and skin.
“During the pandemic it was much more loungewear. Now things are beginning to reopen slowly, people found their own unique style during the time they were off,” Sofia observes. “Women are much more out there with what they wear. Before, they were so much more limited.”
Her mother adds that the shift toward cool and cozy has introduced a casual slant to elegant dress.
“It’s created an interesting balance,” Silvia says. “I do believe in the power of accessorizing.”
No surprise, then, that Silvia Tcherassi offerings include a full range of handbags, jewelry and shoes to complete a head-to-toe look, in addition to an atelier collection for special occasion needs.
“It was a bit of a mix, because each collection is not something separate, but a continuation,” Sofia explains.
Not that the mother-daughter duo isn’t looking to diversify. Silvia hints an expansion is already in the works, and that they’re playing with the idea of a secondary line.
The luncheon raised more than $400,000 for nonprofits that provide critical services to Houston’s Latino communities, and with any luck, recruited some 850 new fans to team Tcherassi.