Chloe Dao [p.3]

“Chloe’s designs were architectural, strong, and clean. She has a very strong and clear point of view. Her use of seams in highlighting a woman’s body in a new way was exciting and innovative. And, nobody’s work was executed as masterfully. They fit her models perfectly,” says Judge Debra Messing.

As it turns out, being a brilliant pattern maker isn’t such a bad thing. Dao was announced the winner of Project Runway by Heidi Klum and her mother and boyfriend came out to congratulate her on stage.

“My mom saw how hard I worked on the collection. We had the biggest tent at fashion week. I was on TV. She was very proud of me,” says Dao.

In the months since Project Runway wrapped in March, Dao and her sisters have worked on expanding the square footage in Lot 8 and making it a full-service fashion boutique. The store opened a men’s line and a salon that Dao’s sister Christine runs.

Lot 8 got its name from Dao’s siblings. There are eight daughters in her family.

In the second from last episode of Project Runway, the cameras went to visit Dao’s home in Jersey Village, a suburb outside of Houston. Dao told the story of how her parents and siblings escaped Southeast Asia. The Daos are ethnically Vietnamese, but the family lived in Laos during the 1970s.

“Hey Christine, why were we in Laos?” Dao yells to her older sister Christine.

Christine explains that Dao’s grandparents had businesses in Laos and went back and forth between Laos and Viet Nam. Her grandfather sold shoes. Her mom was a seasoned tailor. Dao may have gotten much of her business and fashion sense early in life from watching her grandfather and mother work.

All eight sisters were born in Laos. After the war ended, the family was caught trying to escape and landed in a prison camp in Laos. In 1979, her parents Thu Thien Dao and Hue Thuc Luong hired someone to help them escape. They made it to a refugee camp in Thailand and lived there for a few years. They eventually arrived in Dallas and settled in Houston a few years later.

Today, Dao is happy designing her own clothes for her boutique. She prides herself on making clothes with a fit and comfort women can appreciate. Between ringing up customers and stocking the racks with her own designs, she’ll make time for autographs. Fans of Project Runway have made outings to Lot 8 just to meet Dao.

It’s clear by Dao’s career choices that she’s more interested in keeping it real than making an explosion onto the scene. Family is very important to her. She lives in her mom’s house in Houston and is very close to her family. She dotes on her seven nieces and three nephews. She is hands-on at every level of decision-making for Lot 8 and is exceptionally proud of being her own boss. And her romance with boyfriend Kenneth Pursley whom she met online is blossoming.

She doesn’t have plans to be the next Vera Wang or Calvin Klein anytime soon. Maybe even never. She’s just extremely happy where she is.

To see more of Chloe Dao’s designs, check out www.lot8online.com. To see Dao’s and other contestants’ designs from Project Runway, log onto www.bravotv.com/Project_Runway/.