South to North Studio is Bridging the Gap Between Latin America and the U.S. Through Texas

Since its launch in 2018, the Latin American Fashion Summit has been at the heart of the Latin American fashion boom, hosting a mix of emerging LATAM entrepreneurs and trailblazing designers such as Carolina Herrera alongside high-profile American names like Pharrell Williams and Aerin Lauder. The conference and designer competition‘s goal is to identify the next great Latin American brands and help them enter new markets.

Two Colombian-born fashion entrepreneurs living in Houston, Luisa Babarczy and Alejandra Bravo, connected at the then-Cartegena-based conference. When they returned home, they decided to hone their focus on powering Latin American brands through Texas. Because as much as America has embraced Latin American music and art, the country has been slower to adopt the designer fashion of LATAM, defined by intricate craftwork and a thriving textile industry. The duo thinks Texas could be the key to opening those doors.

“Obviously Miami is a gateway to Latin America, but talent tends not to move beyond Florida,” Bravo tells PaperCity. “If you’re from America you understand the importance of Texas, but if you’re from the outside you know that it’s a massive state and that’s about all. It was important for us to learn how to communicate the power that Texas is and the customer that’s here.”

The duo formed South to North Studio in 2022, the same year their first client, Houston-based jeweler Susana Vera, won “Latin Accessories Designer of the Year” at the Latin American Fashion Summit.  

“All of a sudden all of these eyes were turned on Luisa and me,” recalls Bravo. “It was like, Who are these girls from Texas and what the heck are they doing?” 

The duo dipped their toes into retail with pop-up events, drawing thousands of shoppers with their well-edited collection of Latin American brands in Houston’s tony River Oaks neighborhood. 

“We were like, alright, people are connecting with this,” Bravo says. “There’s a fan base here. Let’s keep going.” 

Their next pitch was to Neighborhood Goods, a Dallas-based retail concept mainly focused on digital brands. The duo offered to create a two-month collective of upstart brands from across Central and South America, many with cult-like followings back home. The event was well received, inspiring Vogue México y Latin America’s editor-in-chief Karla Martinez de Salas to host a celebration at Clifton Club in Dallas. 

When luxury resortwear label Agua by Agua Bendita was looking to open its first retail space in America, South to North helped the Colombian brand land a coveted pop-up space in Dallas’ historic Highland Park Village. The meticulously designed shop opened its doors in December 2023 and will stay through at least the end of May 2024. 

“It’s incredible how easy it is to draw similarities between the southern woman and the Latina woman,” Babarczy says. “We all like being dressed up and put together. And it’s to our advantage that Latin America is not a very subdued culture — it’s loud, colorful, and fun. That’s why it’s resonating so well, especially in Dallas, which is really the fashion hub of Texas.”

What’s Next for South to North Studio

This spring, South to North hosted Colombian designer Andrés Otálora for trunk shows in Houston and Dallas. They also opened a long-term pop-up in Houston’s River Oaks District for Maygel Coronel, a luxury swimwear line founded in Cartagena de Indias. 

And in a full circle moment, the duo were recently interviewed for an episode of the Latin American Fashion Summit podcast. 

“We hosted [the LAFS] on their tour of Texas,” Babarczy says. “Now that they’ve landed here, they really want to grow here.”