Texas has long been home to famous fashion designers. Brandon Maxwell hails from Longview, Schiaparelli creative director Daniel Roseberry is from Plano, and Tom Ford was born in Austin. Aside from household names like Project Runway winner Chloe Dao and the celeb-loved Bach Mai, Houston isn’t often recognized for its fashion design landscape, but Hunter Bell has built a fashion following, offering something for nearly every style and sensibility.  

Bell's Houston-based namesake brand counts celebrities such as Taylor Swift among its customers, thanks to its feminine, sophisticated designs, rooted in a Southern sensibility that flatters a wide range of bodies and aesthetics. The company’s devoted following becomes obvious at its highly anticipated warehouse sales—massive, grab-what-you-can events where discounted pieces overflow from cluttered racks and women strip down to their undergarments to try on clothes in full view of total strangers. 

This past summer, I squeezed through crowds of fellow fashionistas in a humid Galleria basement to attend one of the company’s warehouse sales. While searching for a striped fit and flare dress and a citrus-print midi skirt, I was accused of stealing another attendee’s floor stash of clothing (I did not). The experience was anxiety-inducing, but also a snapshot of the baptism-by-fire experience that shoppers endure to score those coveted Hunter Bell pieces. That chaos is part of the devotion to a brand that promises personality and consistency. 

Bell might not be a Texan by birth, but you’d never guess from her clothes. Each piece carries a distinct Southern aura, as if woven into the threads. For the trained eye, identifying Bell’s design is almost instinctive, given the brand’s unique aesthetic—cozy knits, puff-sleeve dresses, demure denim staples, and whimsical prints that are unmistakably hers. “She does an amazing job with storytelling each season with her collections, and I think that’s such an important factor in fashion, but also as a brand,” says Paulina Padilla, a wardrobe stylist and styling consultant. “Consumers want to feel a connection to these pieces that they’re adding to their closet.”

Bell has found a way to shift with the times, tapping into what women want and the ever-evolving fashion landscape. “Designing for women has always been easy for me because I have two sisters, and they have a very different aesthetic for how they want to dress, and oftentimes, I think about them. I think about my mother, and I think about my grandmother, who is no longer alive, but who I wanted to dress as well,” Bell says. “It’s not just designing for me; it’s designing for all those different age groups.”

Bell’s ability to tell stories through fabric didn’t start in New York showrooms—it began in South Carolina. Growing up in Florence, Bell seemed destined for a career in the arts. Her mother, Jan Lingle, was an actor, dancer, and choreographer. While Bell, who starred in productions like A Christmas Carol, Alice in Wonderland, and Annie at the Florence Little Theater, admired the performing arts, it was the artistry of the handmade stage costumes that captivated her most. “I didn’t love dancing, and I didn’t love singing, so I had to dig deep and put the pieces together of where I wanted to be in that theater, and that’s how I ended up interested in costume design,” she says.  

Bell’s mother and grandmother knew how to sew; the future designer was always adorned in smocked dresses and homemade Halloween costumes, and Bell often used fabric scraps to create miniature outfits for her Barbies. She studied fashion design at the University of Alabama and later at Parsons School of Design in New York City. Like many, Bell began her fashion career in New York as an assistant designer but found the work at brands such as Vineyard Vines creatively stifling. “I felt as if we weren’t given creative energy to dive in and make a bespoke product…. They really wanted to model their business off of something that was already put out into the marketplace, and that frustrated me,” Bell says. “[I decided] I’m going to do this in my spare time in my apartment and build a brand that resonates with my aesthetic and my style, which was, and still is, the contemporary world.”

In 2006, Bell launched her namesake brand. The early years included a winning stint on NBC’s reality TV competition Fashion Star and a presence at luxury department stores such as Saks Fifth Avenue. But almost a decade in, New York—the place that instilled Bell with her scrappy, ambitious personality—no longer felt like home. Then, the economy shifted. The brand weathered the 2008 recession but struggled with the unexpected loss of accounts, including Nordstrom. “We took a hit, and it was sort of this moment that I said, ‘Am I ready to start a family? Do I want to continue to design?’ Because that felt like a time in my life where it was a turning point,” Bell says.

Bell and her husband moved to Houston in 2016 to be closer to loved ones and grow their own family, which now includes three children. Hunter Bell, the brand, quickly became part of the city’s fashion scene. Her line is now sold in local boutiques such as Frock Shop and online through retailers such as Anthropologie, Tuckernuck, and ShopBop. 

Hunter Bell’s significant growth started in 2020, when Bell moved from a wholesale-only model to a hybrid one that included direct-to-consumer (DTC) sales. Since then, the collections have leaned into a blend of feminine playfulness, modernity, and Texas-centric style. In October 2025, Hunter Bell released an entire collection dedicated to Round Top, complete with bandanna prints and graphic tees that pay homage to the Hill Country shopping destination. In September, the brand experienced a surge in attention when Taylor Swift rocked a Hunter Bell green gingham skirt and crop top while alongside beau Travis Kelce. 

Now Bell is planning her 20th anniversary in 2026, a milestone few contemporary brands reach. Celebrity endorsements help, but longevity comes from something steadier. It’s the devout fans—the women who have followed Bell’s journey from New York to Houston—who keep the label thriving season after season. 

Some might wonder how leaving New York City, the country’s unofficial fashion capital, could be a good decision for a burgeoning fashion business, but Bell says it’s paid off. Her brand has only grown after her move south. “It has surprised me…to realize that this state that I wasn't born in, but that I’m certainly grounded in and a part of, embraced us and said, ‘How can we help you grow?’” she says. 

While online algorithms endlessly flood social media feeds with fashion finds, the discovery of Hunter Bell throughout Houston feels organic and personal. Local influencers such as Natalie Steen have become fans, not just because Bell is considered a “hometown hero,” but because her brand resonates with today’s multifaceted woman, offering versatile clothes that easily shift from home to the office to school, with pickups and mom meet-ups in between. 

“I think your average Houston woman—Hunter and myself included—[is] doing more than five things a day that maybe would require an outfit change,” says Steen, who was one of the early local adopters, shopping at the sample sales hosted on the lawn of Bell’s Briargrove home. “But with her clothes,” she adds, “it’s just not necessary.”

Beyond being a contemporary brand that creates feminine designs for the do-it-all woman, Hunter Bell reflects its founder's instincts for daily life and cultural mood in a way that's paid off. During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, Bell released the Jenkins dress, a comfy, elevated house dress that embodied the stay-at-home era, similar to the famed Hill House Home nap dress. It’s that tuned-in touch that makes every Hunter Bell piece feel personal and part of the reason her clientele continues to grow and diversify. 

In the spring 2026 collection, a vibrant print dress adorned with bursts of punchy colors takes inspiration from the unexpected. Drawn by Houston artist Isabel Wilson, this standout print is based on a beloved Tyler Casey painting that hangs in Bell’s office. The brand has also collaborated locally with Houston lines such as Freya on hat design and launched a homeware collection with Houston cooking instructor Marcia Smart in 2021. 

Bustling warehouse sales, held once or twice a year, help her brand remain an accessible, memorable staple, allowing those on tighter budgets to shop for quality pieces at a discount (Bell’s pieces typically run $500 to $600 each). That accessibility keeps women—from the River Oaks mom to a freelancer, yours truly, working two jobs—coming back. 

Today, Bell is reflective. “It’s important to celebrate the wins,” she says. She’s learned the importance of keeping an eye out for inspiration, whether from visiting design-forward restaurants or traveling to scenic destinations around the world. Houston, however, remains home. “Everyone in this community, everyone in the city, has lifted me up, supported us beyond what I could have even imagined,” she says.