News

Jul 21, 2023

Esé Azénabor and Sharon Lee Clark Host a Feminine Fairytale in the Dallas Design District

Esé Azénabor and Sharon Lee Clark welcome guests and reveal the name of their

Esé Azénabor and Sharon Lee Clark welcome guests and reveal the name of their collection, Ignite (Photo by Kelly Alexander)

Sally Nguyen, Sarah Kristin (Photo by Celeste Cameron)

Esé Azénabor and Sharon Lee Clark in their custom looks (Photo by Celeste Cameron)

Lele Sadoughi in an Esé Azénabor x Sharon Lee Clark gown (Photo by Celeste Cameron)

Patricia Quirino, aka DJ RomiQ, on the turntables (Photo by Celeste Cameron)

Madelaine Lam in an Esé Azénabor x Sharon Lee Clark look (Photo by Celeste Cameron)

Lea Caprice and Sharon Lee Clark show off details from the back (Photo by Celeste Cameron)

Anne Hyun in custom blue from the collection (Photo by Celeste Cameron)

Champagne being served cloud 9 style for the Esé Azénabor and Sharon Lee Clark show (Photo by Kelly Alexander)

Monica Peng (right) Sips Cotton-Candy-Topped Champagne with a Friend (Photo by Celeste Cameron)

Guests made their way to the runway (Photo by Celeste Cameron)

Osé Azénabor in an embellished gown (Photo by Celeste Cameron)

Camilla Marr and a friend catch up before the show (Photo by Celeste Cameron)

Lea Caprice in a yellow adorned gown from the collection (Photo by Celeste Cameron)

Model Tracy Ripsin in a skirt from the collection (Photo by Celeste Cameron)

A cape moment from the finale walk (Photo by Kelly Alexander)

Esé Azénabor and Sharon Lee Clark welcome guests and reveal the name of their collection, Ignite (Photo by Celeste Cameron)

The collab started with a brainstorming brunch at Sadelle's and culminated with glasses of cotton-candy-topped champagne in the Design District. When haute couture designer-to-the-stars Esé Azénabor teams up with artist and Krane Home wallpaper wizard Sharon Lee Clark, a feminine fairytale is imminent. Clark, no stranger to adorning high fashion accessories with her ornate Korean-inspired imagery (earlier this year, she collaborated with bag designer Marie De La Roche), met Esé with an immediate "yes" when asked if she would do the same to her ethereal gowns.

"But it's very expensive fabric. What if you make a mistake?" Esé asked. The artist who once said she often paints in head-to-toe glam and leaves unscathed, however, was confident in her precision: "Oh no. I don't make mistakes."

Held at Esé's Design District showroom and atelier on Cole Street, the Friday afternoon fashion show benefitting the Children's Cancer Fund saw the well-heeled ladies who lunch in their best daytime frocks. Harpist Merry Miller serenaded guests with her graceful rendition of Ben E. King's "Stand by Me" as they mused about and discussed upcoming weekend plans. When cool girl DJ RomiQ (who Clark met during her art show at Carolina Herrera in Highland Park Village) amped up the ambiance, guests made their way to their seats.

The name of the collection, as the duo explained, was Ignite – and ignite it did. Model Tracy Ripsin strutted in an enchanting Esé Azénabor custom silk Mikado skirt decorated with Clark's signature: crane birds. Headband extraordinaire Lele Sadoughi paired her defining accessory with a statement-sleeved gown gilded with florals. Besides silk, there was also an abundance of rhinestones, feathers, and tule on the runway. As for my favorite: an understated yellow column dress painted with acrylic whimsical scenes of nature was one I have daydreamed about since.