C hloe Dao

After a long journey of ten months, Chloe Dao emerged as the winner of Bravo’s Emmy nominated 2 on March 8, 2006. She competed against 15 designers and was among the three finalists to showcase their Fall 2006 collection at New York’s Fashion Week at Seventh on Sixth. Dao won the hearts of America with her mild honest demeanor but won the votes of judges Heidi Klum, Michael Kors, Nina Garcia and special guest judge Debra Messing with her consistent display of technical skills, business savvy and creative talent. As the winner of PR2, she received $100,000 seed money to use toward her design business, a 2007 Saturn Sky Roadster, a spread in Elle magazine, and a mentorship with Banana Republic.

Her win caused a media frenzy, and “Chloe Dao” quickly became a household name. Dao was featured on NBC’s Today and Access Hollywood, CNN’s American Morning, ABC’s The View and E!’s Inside Edition. Major national and international magazines such as People, Time, US Weekly, Forbes, Forbes Asia, Star, WWD, and New York Times covered this success story of an immigrant living out her American dream. After the media frenzy waned, invitations came flooding in for Dao to share her inspirational story. She was the keynote speaker at Community College’s Class of 2006 Commencement and spoke in front of 20,000 graduates and guests. News of Dao’s accomplishments reached the White House, and she was honored with an invitation to a special conference celebrating Asian American Heritage month with President Bush.

In January 2007, Dao’s designs were featured in the Smithsonian Museum in the “Exit Saigon, Enter Little Saigon” exhibit. Dao’s reputation for understanding women and their bodies landed her a contract with Dove as their national spokesperson for the “Sleeveless Ready” campaign. And during Spring 2007 New York Fashion Week, LensCrafters chose Dao as the featured designer and as a panelist along with Tim Gunn, Hal Rubenstein, Bobbie Thomas, and Gretta Monahan to discuss eyewear’s role as the “it” accessory. Dao reached the masses this year when she debuted on QVC with three consecutive sell-out appearances with her line Simply Chloe Dao, exclusive to QVC. Her effortless style and modern sensibility lead her to partner with bag and travel gear maker Nuo Tech to create a line mobile technology and travel accessories. The Dao Chloe Dao by Nuo Collection will be available at multiple retailers nationwide in the Spring of 2009. The collection is modern, contemporary and most of all fun. It’s unique play on colors, geometry and shapes to create fashion forward designs without any boundaries.

Dao’s modest immigrant upbringing has kept her grounded despite her new found celebrity status. She emigrated from Pakse, in 1979 with her parents, Thu Thien Dao and Hue Thuc Luong, and her 7 sisters to the U.S. and settled in Houston, Texas. All the sisters were encouraged to study hard and pursue careers in medicine or law, although Dao was never interested in either. Her passion for design and fashion were sparked at the age of 10 when she saw her first episode of CNN’s Style with Elsa Klensch. The passion grew into a career choice, and years later Dao graduated from the Fashion Institute of Technology with a patternmaking degree. After graduation, she honed her design and patternmaking skills at Finity, Melinda Eng, and Gregory Parkinson. Her business savvy came naturally since both parents were entrepreneurs. Internationally renowned buying office, Catherine Dietlein taught Dao the art of buying and merchandising. Dao left New York in the summer of 2000 a seasoned industry professional and opened up LOT 8, named after the eight Dao sisters.

Even with the win of PR2, Dao continues to develop and grow her boutique’s business in Houston. In March 2008, she launched her Dao Chloe Dao line. She introduced her bridal collection during the summer of 2010 and received rave reviews from both brides and media. Her collection is available at LOT 8 boutique and on www.lot8online.com.