Move out of the way world, powerhouse Adrienne Bailon-Houghton is reshaping the power suit at New York Fashion Week.
The multihyphenate and mastermind of luxury brand La Voute can now add NYFW designer to her list of accomplishments with the launch of her new suit line, dubbed the Era collection.
“I have an obsession with suits,” the former “Cheetah Girls” star told Daily News. “Over the past 10 years, I think specifically starting with “The Real'”, on a daytime talk show, I just found that it was so easy on a daily basis to be like ‘Let’s do a suit.’ That was my vibes. I was always in a suit on ‘The Real.'”
This led the New York native to design a collection she describes as “chic,” but also “affordable and attainable.”
“I always consider myself and the way I grew up when I’m designing and I think it’s so important for young girls that grew up like me without a lot of money, but so obsessed and in love with fashion. Seeing what JLo was wearing and staying up-to-date with the fashion trends and I would go see the prices and be like ‘I can’t afford that, that’s not realistic for me at all.'”
The new collection will be featured at a pop up shop in Chelsea during New York Fashion Week.
“We created four different silhouettes that are my go-tos. And they’re very different from each other.”
Proudly proclaiming her dedication to designing for women who are underrepresented in the fashion world, Houghton launched La Voute in response to what she felt was missing from the fashion community: luxury clothing that works for diverse body types.
“We have clothes that I think are never included in the fashion conversation and that’s people like myself that are petite and curvy. And I think that is so important because when you’re talking about fashion, I’m fashion-obsessed yet I never see myself represented in that space ever.”
“Representation matters on such a level I don’t think we recognize.”
So Bailon-Houghton launched La Voute in 2020 to address the issue, created for women of all shapes and sizes, but especially for those who remind her of a younger version of herself.
“I really really wanted to honor that young girl that’s working really hard putting her paycheck toward these pieces.”
“No matter where I go and no matter what I do, I am still that girl. I joke with everybody: I am frugal Fran. I want to be a part of fashion, but I want to be responsible.”
Bailon-Houghton admits when she was growing up on the Lower East Side, Fashion Week often felt “exclusive” and out of reach. She hopes the La Voute pop up will help open the event up to young women like her growing up in the city today.
“New York Fashion Week has been such a big deal for such a long time, but native New Yorkers rarely get to be a part of it. They rarely get to be a part of the conversation and get to attend events.”
“I wanted to have a fashion brand that feels like, ‘You can sit with us and yes I will sit with you.'”
Whether hosting shows, topping the music charts, or designing her favorite suit looks, she says one fact remains the same: “I am such a girl’s girl. I would say women empowerment has really been the common thread in everything I’ve done. I always joke that I’m like the perpetual girl group member. I’ve been in like three girl groups. My first was 3LW, then I went to Cheetah Girls, then The Real was a whole other girl group.
“I love working with women. I love being surrounded by women — specifically, women that either look like me or grew up like me, to be able to represent them, to be able to show them that anything is possible. ”
