The miles-long dining room table in the art-filled home of John and Becca Cason Thrash was laden with the most tempting collection of shoe and handbag accessories that this writer has seen outside of Tootsies, Neiman Marcus or Saks Fifth Avenue.
Congratulations, Joyce Echols, native Texan, hometown Houston entrepreneur, shoe designer on the verge of a major splash.
These wildy sexy shoes will surely appeal to the Texas gal with spunk and Lone Star pride as well as to any woman with a feisty fashion streak.
We visited Joyce last summer over lunch at Brasserie 19 when she was just launching her whimsical, hot-wired shoe brand. The spring and summer line quietly entered the marketplace as a starting point. Today, her fall/winter designs, which will hit the marketplace in July, reflect a maturing of design and quality superiority that are sure to make Joyce Echols shoes an international success. Already, her brand has caught the attention of buyers and the affection of customers in the Asian market.
Last week, she introduced her ultra sexy, fab designs to Houston friends during a sample showing at the Thrash home. During five hours of schmoozing, the fashionistas and dandies arrived to peruse the Texas-inspired, Italian crafted offerings. On this special day, 10 percent of the pre-order sales were earmarked for Child Advocates.
Guests such as Caroline Starry LeBlanc, Sarah Starry, Courtney Hopson, Melissa Mithoff, Holly Waltrip and more arrived to give a look-see at the creative and finely crafted footwear.
Echols was pleased to share that that her designs had been accepted by the same highly-selective Italian manufacturer as that of Charlotte Olympia. Thus, upping the quality of the products as witnessed in the shoes, boots, sandals and handbags on display last week.
No denying there is a Texas twang to many of her designs, some laced with gilded barbed wire or bullet heads or long horn steer logos. These wildy sexy shoes will surely appeal to the Texas gal with spunk and Lone Star pride as well as to any woman with a feisty fashion streak. But then there are even more sophisticated designs such as the silk satin high-rise boots or the tuxedo bow-tie evening pumps and evening slippers for gents that carry her longhorn skull logo.
Our particular favorites included the Swarovski-encrusted evening sandals, the silk satin evening boots and the party sandals with tiny pistol, rhinestone included.
Joyce Echols designs are priced accordingly with other top-line shoe designers with prices ranging from $500 to $2,000, the latter a high-rise sandal embraced at the ankle by a round of buffalo tusks.
Our particular favorites (keep in mind that I am not exactly fashion forward) included the Swarovski-encrusted evening sandals, the silk satin evening boots and the party sandals with tiny pistol, rhinestone included.
Love, love, love the bullet head-encrusted booties and pumps. Love the fur-trimmed booties with barbed wire accents. Love the longhorn steer logo that emblazons both her handbags and pumps.
Stay tuned for Joyce Echols' success. She has appointments in New York this week with Neiman Marcus and Bergdorf's, more meetings with buyers from Asia and with owners of Houston's Katia Boutique, which carries her brand.
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