Downtown Houston pop-up shop to showcase local style

HOUSTON – Just a short, one-block walk to the northeast of Discovery Green Park and the George R. Brown Convention Center, you'll find yourself at Partnership Tower.

For the next month and a half, it will play host to a unique space devoted to Houston's fashion scene.

“It really runs the gamut which is a perfect reflection of what Houston has to offer; a little bit of everything,” Houston First public relations manager Leah Shah said.

The store is LAUNCH.

It’s a first foray for Houston First into the world of retail and the pop-up shop trend happening across the city.

“We were trying to look at ways where we could really showcase Houston's diversity,” Shah said. “We named it LAUNCH because this really is a launch pad for the local designers and talent.”

“What I love about Houston is that the creative community is extremely local. People are from here, it's not like New York where everyone's from somewhere else,” said Claire Jarvis, of Claire Drennan Knitwear.

Jarvis is one of more than a dozen of those designers with a spot in the shop. Her fashion? You guessed it, knits.

“There's just kind of like a whimsy about knits that you don't get from other clothing, like I just always loved everything knit,” Jarvis said.

“There's a great Houston fashion scene, there's a lot of people with a lot of style in Houston and we're excited to be a part of it,” Cheryl Schulke, of Stash, said.

Unlike Jarvis, Schulke uses leather to craft her designs.

“We take the time to hand cut every single piece and we feature the art of the leather,” Schulke said.

In fact, every designer at the shop has their own unique take on fashion. However they all share in Houston’s style.

“I've been inspired by this city, by the way we dress, by the way we present ourselves, by the way we go out, by the way we shop and I think you see that reflected here at LAUNCH,” Jarvis said.

If you're looking for a few new styles, LAUNCH will be open seven days a week starting Saturday, Jan. 14 through Feb. 26.