Local Color

Rumor has it that Dallas has more boutiques and shopping centers per square foot than any other city in the country-a real asset for a city that’s home to so many talented fashion designers. And those designers are getting national and international recognition.

Actress Minnie Driver called upon local handbag designer Jen Hayler to custom make a beaded bag to complement the Randolph Duke gown that Driver wore to the Golden Globes. Hayler also created a bag for Academy Award-winning actress Hillary Swank. But if you’re not a star, you can find Hayler’s handbags at Sebastian’s Fine Shoes and in select Neiman Marcus stores (but, unfortunately, not yet in the Dallas Neiman Marcus). And if you like one-of-a-kinds, you’re in luck: Hayler has never made more than 20 of one bag.

Another local designer, Jeffrey Lee, uses unconventional fabrics to add spice to conventional designs. For example, tyvek, normally reserved for FedEx packages, can be found on his sundresses. In the picture shown here, Lee uses a transformed raised rubber for the skirt-rubber you would find on hardware gloves. Lee strays from the norm and opts instead for new and inventive techniques and construction, a quality that has drawn the likes of Lenny Kravitz, Jade Jagger, and Jennifer Aniston, whom he has dressed in his designs for photo shoots.



Face of the Month:

ALAINA/PAGE 214

Canadian-horn Alaina, who bears a striking resemblance to supermodel Christy Turlington, got her green card to live and work in America about six years ago.Her favorite job so far has been working overseas in Japan and Germany, but Alaina’s dream job is la work with photographer Steven Misel.



Alaina is wearing:

Jeffrey Lee cream ultra suede top/Forty Five Ten Jeffrey Lee white rubber dot skirtlForty Five Ten Jen Hayler “Colada,” hand-painted with bam-booslSebastian’s Fine Shoes