Some girls need no introduction to adventure; they’re born with a spirit that can’t — and won’t — be broken. This sense of autonomy and going against the grain is what defines the merchandise at the newly opened Hoiden Supply Company, and more significantly, it’s what describes the duo behind it.
Hoiden co-owners Madison Enloe and Marlene Goodfleisch, 28- and 29-years-old respectively, are native Austinites who met as teenagers and forged a solid friendship by toiling around parking garages on their skateboards — often times still in the dresses they'd worn to high school parties earlier that night.
"We wanted to marry the feminine with the edgy, the 'boho' with the 'moto.' We don’t want people to have to be defined," says co-owner Madison Enloe.
Before recently re-settling in Austin, the two spent nearly a decade in and around Los Angeles independently pursuing their crafts.
For Enloe, it was photography school at Brooks Institute followed by a gig as the head photographer of women's wear for Quiksilver, Roxy and D.C. And for Goodfleisch, it meant two degrees from FIDM and a subsequent spell as the manager of design at Riller & Fount.
As enviable as their 9 to 5 jobs and West Coast lifestyles may have been, they shared a craving to work for themselves and began collaborating on how and where to open what they would call "a women’s mercantile."
This August, their dream was realized with the opening of Hoiden — a lifestyle shop that encourages gals to blaze their own trails, just as the word "hoiden" (a girl or woman of saucy, boisterous or bold behavior) suggests. In preparation for the opening, Goodfleisch and Enloe spent months traveling from tradeshow to tradeshow to find the perfect mix of merchandise that would speak to and inspire the carefree females of Austin.
"All of our brands have a voice and all individually have something to say — and they say it well," says Enloe, referencing Novella Royal, Movmt, LACAUSA and Just Female as particular standouts.
"We tried to curate very transitional pieces," adds Goodfleisch, who's so in tune with textile quality that she "shops with her hands." "I want you to be able to wear an outfit five different ways. In my mind, a lot [of items] are staples that you could wear three days a week. But they are so transformational that you wear them in such a way people don’t notice it’s the same shirt."
The store is decidedly hardier than any other women’s outpost currently in Austin. A strong black, mauve and neutral palette is peppered with Daytona motorcycle helmets and Geier gloves, as well as Circle 21 candles and Capsule perfumes. "We wanted to marry the feminine with the edgy, the 'boho' with the 'moto.' We don’t want people to have to be defined," explains Enloe who, fittingly, recently acquired a Harley-Davidson Iron 883.
So far, fellow Austin boutique owners have applauded Hoiden’s distinct point of view, stopping in to give their well-wishes and admire the space, which Enloe and Goodfleisch gutted and built out themselves along with the help of friends and family. "I feel like everyone truly wants to build each other up," Goodfleisch says in comparison to the more divided, cut-throat fashion landscape of L.A. "It’s like, 'Let’s do this together and make Austin awesome.'"
"When you walk in, you see who we are. But it makes it hard to [put into words] because we aren’t solely one thing," Goodfleisch says. "And I think most women are like that,
adds Enloe.
Thus the clothes, shoes, jewelry and accessories at Hoiden will not restrict you, but rather embolden you to move freely from night to day, from boat to bar, or from camping to dinner downtown. And you'll look damn fierce doing it, too.
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Hoiden Supply Company will host a Grand Opening Party alongside Noah Marion Quality Goods and Golden Eagle, which form a collective with Hoiden called "Work." The space is open to the public on Saturday, August 23 from 6 - 10 pm.
Madison Enloe and Marlene Goodfleisch, owners of Hoiden Supply Co.
