Meet Your Maker
New designer showroom brings Austinites closer to their new favorite brands
Although clothes are meant to express personality, wearers rarely get to meet designers. Showroom, a new store opening on November 10 at Domain Northside, brings a more personal touch to a luxe shopping experience, inviting designers to make appearances and closing the gap between maker and wearer. This is the store's second location, joining the original on Kiawah Island, South Carolina.
The aesthetic focuses on feminine American, Scandinavian, and British design; a comb through Showroom’s catalog shows the muted colors, knitwear, and practical shapes someone might expect from this particular blend of sensibilities, but with little dips into exuberance in the form of a feathered hem or a metallic fabric.
It’s a unique mix for Austin, and the store plans to break ground in bringing many brands to the city for the first time. As the name suggests, it is a store, but visiting to browse will get many Austinites acquainted with unfamiliar styles and designers they love. (Although, ironically, it was a figurative name when the business was initially just e-commerce.)
Still, the curation is not obscure. Visitors might spot Victoria Beckham, Derek Lam, Joseph, and most of the silhouettes are overall traditional. Sizing appears to be inclusive, to a predictable limit; there are a few 2X items available on the online store that may or may not fit true-to-size. The store offers styling services by appointment, which automatically enrolls customers in a VIP program providing first access to new styles and even custom orders.
The showroom itself is designed in a modern and neutral style, with lots of whites and golds, by North Carolina design firm Lucy & Company. The more standout materials — custom oak and quartzite along the counter and cabinets — come from Austin’s own Edwood Studios, which, as a press release points out, particularly values sustainably sourced wood.
Showroom founder Erica Hanks is a paragon of the simple-but-not-uptight style found at the store, and has been featured by the New York Times. She developed her styling ethos working with athletes, and now works with other professionals in mind.
More information about Showroom is available at shopshowroom.com. The grand opening is scheduled for November 10 from 4-7 pm.
If you can't win at bowling, you can win at finding the weirdest sweater.Photo courtesy of Punch Bowl Social
The snacks rival any Christmas party.Photo by Punch Bowl Social