Texas Force Jumps Into the World of Fashion Design — Lucie Harte Keeps It Feminine For Her River Oaks Debut

San Antonio native Lucie Harte is a woman with a strong creative bent that has led her from One King’s Lane, where she sourced products for gift offerings, to Soho House, where she worked on design team projects in Istanbul, New York, Chicago and the Cotswolds. Five years ago, she returned to her  Texas roots, landing in Houston and eventually redirecting her talent into fashion design under her Soft Animal label.

In celebration of Harte’s feminine somewhat sensuous debut collection, besties Natalie Steen, Lindley Arnoldy and Allison O’Neill hosted a launch party in the latter’s River Oaks home. Sixty guests, including Harte’s beau, Daniel Arnoldy, a director at Triten Corporation, joined the fashion fête.

“Soft Animal is my COVID baby,” she says in a statement. “The collection is the result of my need for a creative outlet during the isolated periods of quarantine when COVID first hit the U.S.. Our debut collection is a reflection of the events we have all endured over the last 18 months, and our collective response to them.

“What we ended up with was a line of elevated pieces that encourage creative self-expression, permission to be comfortable, and more awareness around how we live.”

With the fashions handcrafted in small batches in New York, there were no supply chain issues as Harte had her entire Fall/Winter 2021 collection of 32 pieces on display and dozens of the 60 or so guests donned their Soft Animal pieces for the party while others succeeded in some serious retail therapy. The evening’s top sellers included the olive green mermaid skirt, stretch rib mock turtleneck top, double-breasted blazer and the silk smocked top and skirt, both in fuchsia. Prices range from $195 for the stretch bodysuit to $775 for a luxe boucle overcoat. Her overall best-seller is the vegan “leather” skirt.

PC Seen: Lyndsey Zorich, Kyle O’Neill, Jana and Scotty Arnoldy, Susan Arnoldy Paisley, Tara Martin, Susan Hansen, Beth Zdeblick, Erin Breen, Caroline Beah, Rachel Beery, Melissa Tuckerman, Denise Monteleone, and Kelley Scofield.