Disc jockey Stephanie Gold will perform at the Fashn.Haus Fashion Show at 7 p.m. Wednesday. The Los Angeles native, who is also a model and blogger, will make her debut in the Rio Grande Valley. Gold has an Instagram account, @stephiestaygold./Photo Courtesy Oscar Salgado
BY Brenda Garza | THE RIDER
Fashn.Haus is a McAllen boutique that rents racks to local artists called pop-up shops. The boutique houses pop-up shops for young entrepreneurs on a tight budget who want to dabble in business and fashion.
The boutique will host its first fashion show at 7 p.m. Wednesday in the Valencia Event Center, located at 3012 Jackson Rd. in Pharr.
Ashley Vasquez, owner of Fashn.Haus, said the show will promote Valley artists.
The boutique has been open only for eight months but has already added 12 pop-up shops to its showroom.
A pop-up shop helps young entrepreneurs showcase their clothing and is a new concept for up-and-coming artists.
Overhead expense, such as rent, can pose a potential threat to the profit margin of a new business.
Fashn.Haus’ rack rents range from $150 to $200 per month and include mentoring and marketing for the business owner.
“They are their own store,” Vasquez said. “They have an online store, but I’m just an outlet for them to be able to sell in a store without paying so much overhead.”
The show will consist of 12 pop-up shops, which will feature Vala, Medusa, Shop Monarch, GiBoss, Oh Chic and Love Atchley Boutique, among others. Each pop-up shop will have eight looks; Models will showcase a total of 96 different styles.
“Every boutique has a different style. Some are more edgy, some are more casual and some are more going out,” said Marie Atchley, owner of Love Atchley Boutique. “There is something for everyone.”
Genesis Flores, a public relations and political science senior at UTRGV, will be the master of ceremonies. Flores is an intern at Fashn.Haus and is helping promote the show on social media.
“The fashion shop is helping promote the local designers,” Flores said. “Most go to the mall to purchase an outfit instead of helping the local artist.”
Ashley de Luna, a sophomore marketing major at UTRGV, is also part of the show. She has been passionate about fashion and clothing since she was 4. At age 19, she opened her “Girly Meets Edgy” online store, www.shopmonarch.com.
After a year with her online shop, she decided that having her own rack at a store would give her an opportunity to showcase her clothing and get her more customers. It also gave her the chance to run her own business and attend school at the same time without the added stress.
Asked how she got involved with Fashn.Haus, de Luna replied: “Since I’m in college, it was going to be hard to do both. [Vasquez] gave me the opportunity to do both since I was only doing it online.”
Vasquez said that of all start-up businesses within the boutique, five are run by entrepreneurs under 25 years old. In fact, Hailey Palacios, a high school student and owner of Oh Chic, won a Fashn.Haus competition and was awarded $2,000 to start her own business.
“We are obsessed with new entrepreneurs,” Vasquez said. “We help them with marketing and we help them grow.”
The show will feature fashion styles that range from comfortable and casual to edgy and high-end, and even some grungy, trendy looks.
“We are fashion kids that don’t want to play it safe,” Vasquez said. “We don’t play by the rules. The second half of the show will be a little bit more explicit. Very New York.”
Tickets are $15 and available at Fashn.Haus, located at 1217 N. 10th St. in McAllen, and at the door. Doors will open at 7 p.m. The show will begin at 7:30 p.m. and end at 9:30 p.m.
For more information, call Vasquez at 627-1192.
