Boston’s best-kept fashion secret, The Haute House Design Studio

Designer Lisa Astor works with the Haute House.

For years, the words Boston and fashion were never used in the same sentence, but much has changed in the last several years due to the influence of televised red-carpet shows, television series like Project Runway, and social media.

Hoping to shine a light on affordable fashion and unknown designers (in Boston and from around the country) is Taneshia Camillo-Sheffey, owner of The Haute House Design Studio, an online fashion site. Haute House, whose tagline is “We’re Bringing the Runway to Your Closet,” launched in March of 2012, and Camillo-Sheffey’s concept behind the site, she says, was “to showcase the underground designers who weren’t exposed to the fashion industry.”

Raised in Milton, Mass., Taneshia has always expressed herself creatively. As a child, she acted modeled, and sang. And growing up, she also performed in an R&B group with her three sisters called Fortress (kind of like En Vogue, she says), where they would often be outfitted by private designers.

“As I grew up I became more and more addicted to fashion,” says Camillo-Sheffey.

In high school she always had a part-time retail job, assisted in Boston Fashion Week and worked backstage with stylists. Having been around fashion and the industry all of her life, she decided to focus on retail, which eventually led to a 10-year career working in visual merchandising and retail management.

Before starting her online boutique, she had a lot of friends who were designers and stylists, and they could never find jobs. She would often ask them, ‘why can’t you find a job at a boutique?’ or ‘why can’t your collection be placed in a boutique?’ Their responses were often ‘they won’t give me a chance. I’m not known. I haven’t been out for five years or more. They won’t showcase me,’ she says.

So, Camillo-Sheffey decided it was time to fill that void. The budding entrepreneur always wanted to open a boutique where she could “showcase local and international private designers that are the fashion industry’s best-kept secret. The underground designers that no one knows about, almost like a Project Runway-type thing.”

After the passing of her mother in 2011 due to breast cancer, “everything just came at me at one time,” says Camillo-Sheffey. “I was like, ‘what am I waiting for?’ ‘What am I doing?’ ‘I’m not going to wait anymore.’” Camillo-Sheffey says she woke up one day and decided that it was now or never to fulfill her dream.

“I went into work one day and said ‘I quit. I’m starting my own business,’” she recalls.

Another from Lisa Astor who works with the Haute House.

Her departure from Neiman Marcus was the beginning of her journey toward bringing creative designs and innovative designers and stylists to the public.

With a background in marketing, promotion and retail, Camillo-Sheffey, who attended Northeastern University, worked with The Center for Women & Enterprise to bring her business idea to life. After five months, she successfully earned a certificate in Business Planning and was ready to launch her site. Of working with the CWE she says “they put me on an amazing track to starting my business. They’re literally my life-saver.”

Fast forward to March 2012 and to the launch of The Haute House Design Studio. The e-commerce site caters primarily to women, (but there are some clothes for men), between the ages of 21–37, who are professionals and “who love boutique shopping and unique pieces” says Camillo-Sheffey. When asked to describe her clientele she says that it’s women “who are interested in fashion and unique clothing.”

Two years in, Camillo-Sheffey has developed her criteria for choosing designers for her site. These include looking at their point of view, their quality of work and the type of design — high fashion or ready-to-wear. One such designer that fits all three criteria is FROCK, a firm producing hand-made clothing from Los Angeles. They offer an array of casual and evening wear that are high in quality, designed in flattering cuts and are carefully constructed using eco-friendly fabrics, she says.

Another designer signed to the Haute House site is Lisa Astor. She began working with Taneshia when she launched her third collection (A/W 2014) this year. For Astor, it’s been a great experience working with Camillo-Sheffey because “she definitely has the greatest fashion sense and knowledge of what the fashion industry is all about,” according to Astor. And, the site has exposed Astor’s line to a new market like Boston, which she finds “less demanding than the New York market”.

FROCK, a firm producing hand-made clothing from Los Angeles, works with the Haute House.

Another benefit that Haute House provides is custom-made clothing. Camillo-Sheffey works closely with the designers in accommodating their clients’ needs. If you can’t find your size on the website, you can contact them about having a specific item custom-made. Her staff makes house calls to those who live in the Boston area to take measurements and do fittings.

“If you want to add a sleeve to a Frock LA dress, the designer can do that,” Camillo-Sheffey says.

As a pre-kickoff to Boston Fashion Week, which takes place Oct. 5–11, The Haute House Design Studio is hosting a trunk show and industry networking event on Thursday, Oct. 2 at the Harborside Lounge in downtown Boston. The first hour will be an industry mixer, and in the second hour Haute House will feature a trunk show and fashion preview of new designers that were just signed by Camillo-Sheffey.

One of the featured designers will be Lisa Astor, who will debut a series of 14 dresses from her new spring 2015 collection called “Thoughtful.” Local vendors Madison Ave of Melrose and Black Box Boutique in Chelmsford will also be on site showcasing their jewelry.

Camillo-Sheffey, whose life has always been involved with fashion, is looking forward to the evening of music, cocktails, mingling and networking. Of her pre-Boston Fashion Week event, she says the night “is gonna be fabulous.”

To attend, RSVP at: thehautehousebfw2014.eventbrite.com.