HAUTE HOUSTON

High fashion label Sachin & Babi makes rare Houston appearance

Having dressed the likes of former First Lady Michelle Obama, Mindy Kaling, and Octavia Spencer, high fashion label Sachin & Babi is known for its attention to embellishment, color, and silhouette. Ahead of the sold-out Saks Fifth Avenue Fashion Show and Luncheon, where the New York-based brand will be headlining with ready-to-wear looks from their fall collection, Sachin Ahluwalia, one-half of the high fashion duo is making a rare in-person appearance in the Bayou City.

"We are thrilled to see what Sachin & Babi will bring to our Saks Fifth Avenue Fashion Show and Luncheon," Angie Lane, Houston Ballet's chief development officer, tells CultureMap. "Saks Fifth Avenue has been an invaluable partner over the years, consistently creating an engaging and dynamic show for Nutcracker Market luncheon guests."

The brand, which has a large customer base in Texas, has its sights set on more permanent digs and retail expansion in the Lone Star State.

"In Texas, fashion is embraced in the truest sense. There's a celebratory spirit and full-of-life energy that aligns with our brand ethos," said Ahluwalia. "Our goal in everything we create is to celebrate the women who inspire us and remind us why we do what we do. I have always believed that the most important component of a woman's wardrobe is her smile, and Houston has that joyfulness so ingrained in its culture."

We sat down with Sachin Ahluwalia to discuss the brand's fall collection and what we can look forward to from the label in 2025.

CultureMap: How would you describe your fall collection?
Sachin Ahluwalia: Each season, we're inspired by the nature surrounding us, but this fall, we were particularly struck by the captivating beauty of botanical flowers. We referenced some of our favorite photographers who have captured striking macro shots of oversized blooms, and from this, we focused on the romantic allure of a 'White Rose in Moonlight.' While we often envision roses bathed in sunlight, a rose is equally enchanting beneath the moon's glow. There's a subtle message there — a reminder that beauty can thrive even in the quiet of night.

CultureMap: What colors and fabrics are you leaning towards for fall and winter?
SA: This fall, we focused on deep floral contrasts on luxurious viscose chiffon, faille, and Mikado. As fall also welcomes the return to the social calendar and gala season, we emphasized intricate beading and embroidery, creating unique, wearable pieces that make her feel her best for all the celebrations ahead.

CultureMap: When you create a collection, who are you designing for?
SA: For the past decade, Sachin & Babi has been redefining what it means to dress for life's most memorable moments. We design to a level of sophistication rather than any particular demographic. Aiming to offer more than just a garment, we want to give our customers a transformative experience that celebrates each person's unique style and story. We dress her for her most special occasions because she deserves to feel extraordinary without compromise.

CultureMap: What has been inspiring you for your 2025 collections?
SA: We are inspired by the incredible women in our country. She continues to marvel and inspire us with her confidence, elegance, and beauty. We're committed to helping her feel her most beautiful for all of her special moments, big and small.

CultureMap: Do you think you will ever move away from your east-meets-west aesthetic?
SA: It's hard to divorce ourselves from our natural inclinations and DNA. Babi and I spent our first 20 years in India, but we've spent the last 30 years building our home in New York City. We embrace our natural propensity for color, craftsmanship, and embroidery from India and marry it to the lifestyle of the women we know and adore in the US. Our goal is to converge traditional Indian techniques with a modern sensibility to create ready-to-wear that feels made for you.

Photo courtesy of Sachin & Babi

Sachin & Babi held an exclusive shopping event in Houston.

smell ya later

5 Houston boutiques for sourcing niche perfumes for scent lovers

Courtesy of Baroque & Bloom

From rare finds to centuries-old perfume houses, Houston’s niche fragrance shops offer scents as distinctive as the people who wear them.

Like a signature style or favorite piece of jewelry, a distinctive perfume can be instantly recognizable and linked to the person wearing it. For those who don't want to smell like the same designer fragrances found in malls across the country, Houston offers several options for something more personal and unexpected.

These boutiques aren't places to grab a bottle and go. They turn fragrance shopping into an entire experience. From trying perfumes that can't be found anywhere else in the city to wearing a scent from centuries-old perfume houses or creating a one-of-a-kind blend, here are the best places to find niche perfumes in Houston.

Baroque & Bloom
With over 1,500 niche fragrances in its Post Oak boutique, Baroque & Bloom by Scent Split offers one of the country's largest specialty fragrance retail collections in a physical store. Shoppers can expect to find exclusive and rare fragrances available only in Houston because of the boutique's relationships with perfume houses worldwide. Ahead of holiday shopping, look for the latest drops from brands including Sikelia and Sasva, both U.S. exclusives at Baroque & Bloom.

House of Creed
This European perfume house has been making fragrances and serving royalty since the 1700s. It is one of the few places in Houston where perfumistas can find all-natural scents made with iris, one of the world's most expensive ingredients. To extract the most refined scent from the plant, Creed ages the iris roots, which it sources from Tuscany and France, for up to eight years. Across its lineup of exclusive fragrances, which each take months to produce, six contain iris, including Millésime Impérial, Queen of Silk, Green Irish Tweed, Fleurissimo, and Iris Debonair, the brand’s latest release.

Krigler
This century-old perfume house began with a scent created for Albert Krigler's soon-to-be bride as an engagement gift in the 1800s and has since turned into a coveted brand with only 15 boutiques worldwide. Its fragrances have been worn by everyone from Leonardo DiCaprio and Jacqueline Onassis to Ernest Hemingway. Houstonians can find the cozy Krigler boutique inside the Four Seasons Hotel, where if an off-the-shelf bottle won't do, a custom scent can be created for a starting price of $50,000.

Kuhl Linscomb
Housed within one of its five interconnected bungalows in Upper Kirby, Kuhl Linscomb offers a variety of hard-to-find fragrances. Customers can shop for brands including Lubin, one of the oldest French perfume houses dating back to 1798; Fiele, a small botanical-focused fragrance house; and Fischerund, so obscure that finding a bottle in the wild is the ultimate discovery.

Le Labo
Santal 33 may have put Le Labo on the mainstream map, but the "slow perfumery" that focuses on small-batch fragrances and minimalism has plenty of scents that deserve a cult following of their own. The Le Labo Montrose boutique is the place to try out Another 13, The Matcha 26, and The Noir 29. Every year, the brand also releases a new addition to its City Exclusives collection, available in the city that inspired it, which creates a frenzy among fragrance devotees. For those willing to cash in their airline miles, the latest drop is Shiu 25, available only in Beijing.

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