The heroines of Dominico Lee’s design sketches look as though they escaped the pages of a storybook. The intentionally frayed hems of the gowns, in silk and tulle, suggest a chase or struggle. The exposed boning of the corsets hints at a lingering sorrow, a heartbreak beneath the glamour, emphasized even more by dark accessories—cowboy hats and boots, all in black.
The allusions are purposeful. Twenty-six-year-old Lee, who grew up in Aransas Pass, near Corpus Christi, says he built his most recent couture collection, “La Doña de la Casa,” around one main idea: “What if there were a Texas version of the Cinderella moment?”
Lee’s rise from self-taught designer to couturier in the national spotlight represents a fairy tale of its own. His first atelier was a high school classroom, where a teacher allowed him to use a sewing machine after school. Lee, who originally planned to major in music, told his family he was at marching band practice.
When his father finally learned of his son’s new passion, he carved a studio for Lee out of a corner of the living room in their seven-hundred-square-foot home. The young designer toiled while his dad watched Dallas Cowboys games. With fashion school out of reach financially, Lee continued his DIY education, learning everything he could, from draping to repairing fine fabrics, as a bridal stylist. With his friend Angelica Carranco, he cocreated his own label, Nicó, in Corpus Christi while still in his teens.
As Lee’s skills grew, so did his social media presence. He attracted custom-order clients and fashion-world followers with his evocative sketches and photos. In 2020 Lee won awards from the Texas Fashion Industry Initiative and Fashion Group International San Antonio.
Last fall he made his New York Fashion Week debut, showing his “La Doña” collection. In December he returned to Corpus Christi for a homecoming show celebrating a decade in design. “There’s no blueprint for a success story, specifically a brown, queer-owned Tejano couturier,” he says. “You have to make it yourself.”
Lee recently moved from Austin, where he lived for a couple of years, to San Antonio. He plans to open a studio and will release Nicó’s first ready-to-wear collection this month. Far from casual, the line will feature blouses, dresses, and skirts that retain the romance of his couture creations but in more streamlined silhouettes.
He continues to work on bespoke wedding dresses and gala gowns. Glass slippers sold separately.
Labels to Have Designs On
Three more fashion houses that continue a rich tradition of Texas couture.
Chloe Dao
Houston
After winning the second season of Project Runway, in 2006, Dao returned to her hometown, where she runs an eponymous boutique in the Heights (she also sells her line online). Her colorfully clean lines fall neatly on shapes of all sizes—she grew up with seven sisters with a wide variety of body types.
Lela Orr
Dallas
Orr’s high-end bridal and special-occasion gowns, designed under her Ferrah label, are available through limited-edition preorders and custom orders only, to lessen her business’s carbon footprint. Orr’s commitment to sustainability extends to her choice of natural materials, which include hemp, linen, and silk. Her creations are available online.
Charles Smith II
Dallas
Before pursuing design full-time, Smith played professional basketball in what’s now called the NBA G league. Street-style edginess imbues his designs—available at his website. Think graphic lines and monochromatic palettes on outerwear, swimsuits, and strappy dresses that would look as appropriate on a runway as on a sidewalk.
This article originally appeared in the September 2024 issue of Texas Monthly with the headline “Tejano Couture’s Proud Moment.” Subscribe today.
