Shreveport, La., is about as far as you can get from the catwalks of Paris and New York, but that didn’t stop designer Steven Goudeau from envisioning success in the fashion industry.
Growing up in the South, the 42-year-old Goudeau learned about the power of clothes at an early age. The tailored blazers and floral prints worn by his mom, and the MC Hammer pants and cowboy boots favored by Dad, sparked a love for revealing personality through fabric and cut.
Initially intending to pursue a career writing and directing horror films, Goudeau decided to follow in his family’s fashionable footsteps by studying public relations at the University of New Orleans. Hurricane Katrina prompted him to move to Houston, where he worked in corporate gigs at Chase Bank and the Gap while learning to sew from a local tailor. The designer launched his first brand, Studio Sixth Sense, in 2006 to sell to private clients.
“Everything was bespoke,” Goudeau recalls. “I’d do wedding gowns or bridal party gowns in Houston just by word of mouth, then I started doing local fashion shows.”
Soon, he had a thriving clientele, and he balanced nights spent sketching with a daytime job working as a full-time analyst at AT&T. By the early 2010s, he was accepted into fashion week events in New Orleans and New York. Although he initially wanted to keep a low profile, it wasn’t long before he realized he needed his name on the label, especially as clients such as Zendaya and Tyra Banks began to wear his looks.
“I never wanted my face to be shown when I was doing fashion design because I didn’t think a man of color would be accepted into the luxury design space,” he explains. “But when people were asking, ‘Who is the designer?’ my name started popping up, so I needed to change the brand.”
He ultimately decided to spell his first name as Stephen for his brand, Maison Goudeau, because the name looked better that way. Last year, he quit his 17-year corporate gig to devote himself full-time to his passion, crafting “custom couture, reimagined through the lens of a modern architect” from his Deep Ellum atelier.
A model wears a design by Steven Goudeau.
Dixie Dixon
Because everything is self-funded, Goudeau doesn’t follow a traditional two-shows-a-year fashion calendar. Instead, he unveils an annual fashion event in Dallas during February’s Black History Month. Now four years in, the party and runway show at the Tower Club drew an audience of 340, including Erykah Badu. Attendees clamored to see Goudeau’s elevated looks, which retail from $275 for a blouse to $1,800 for a custom gown.
This year, the designer plans to take things international with lines devoted to ready-to-wear, menswear and accessories — even a signature unisex fragrance. Currently refining styles for the DIFFA Dallas gala runway show in May, he is adapting classic silhouettes each season with fresh new fabrics. As he builds his brand, Goudeau assures his “rule-free” approach will continue to reflect his adventurous, confident clients.
“I want you to walk into whatever room you walk into and command attention,” he says. “I don’t want my garments to wear the woman. It’s about effortlessly throwing it on and just owning the room.”