Hunter Bell Brings Her Fashionable Party Tour Home To Houston, Teases Her First Brick and Mortar Store

As Houston-based designer Hunter Bell celebrates two successful decades of creating her beloved fashion brand, the parties are stretching across the country, most recently hitting the Bayou City itself at Park House. With some 70 devotees, all dressed in Hunter Bell’s exuberant looks, the designer revealed to PaperCity that her first brick and mortar store is set to soon open in her native South Carolina. In Charleston to be specific.

“We just think what if the customer wants to touch and feel more and they’re not getting what they want from our website,” Bell says. “So we want to give them that opportunity to get into a store and really embody and embrace what we are as a brand.”

That said champagne bottles popped, schmoozing shifted into high gear, and photos quickly got snapped by social media influencers. As with all of Bell’s parties this was a glowing success.

And, oh, the whimsical summer fashions — worn by every femme in attendance. Many duplicates, but on this occasion rather than a fashion freak out, the “Who wore it best?” challenge was all in good fun.

Throughout the evening, guests enjoyed custom watercolor portraits painted by Hunter Bell print designer Leslie Randall, which added a personal and interactive element to the celebration. Prior to the event, the Hunter Bell team surprised the designer with a commemorative book honoring 20 years of memories, achievements and milestones — a heartfelt tribute to the journey that brought her to this moment.

“It’s amazing to say that when moving to Texas (with her husband from New York 10 years ago), I thought that Houston was where business went to die,” Hunter Bell confesses.

“But knowing the customer now, what I didn’t know before I moved here was that Texas was going to embrace me with open arms. Texas is going to say ‘We’re your biggest champion and you’ve never seen anything like this.’ ”

A major success it became. Bell’s decidedly fun fashions are now carried in some 260 stores and with a robust website seeing the same level of sales as the retail outposts.

Following a champagne toast to the brand’s success, the fashionable attendees were served lemon sorbet topped with a custom HB wafer. On departure the ladies received commemorative keepsakes including Hunter Bell playing cards, matchboxes and stickers.

PC Seen: Caroline Knapp, Lily Barfield, Carrie Colbert, Audrey Muse, Linsay Radcliffe, Brandy Geuary, Emily Reaves, Hailey Daniels, Jordyn Groover, Jess Einaudi, Devyn Whitehead, Sarah Radcliffe, and Paulina Padilla.