When Texas fashion designer Pat Dahnk was first starting out, she sewed on an old machine that started to skip a stitch. That’s when her creativity and determination kicked in. She began to cut out little leather leaves to stitch over the seams of the collars, and this design element became her signature.

Faced with an obstacle, her determination and creativity helped her overcome it. That’s really the story of her life—from small glitches on a sewing machine to the devastating loss of her son. When cancer claimed her 2-year-old, Kent, in 1985, Dahnke pushed through grief by focusing on what meant the most to her—her daughter, Tara, just 8 years old at the time, a love of horses and an ability to help women feel beautiful.

“I strongly feel that if you package the outside of the body in happiness, the inside will follow,” Dahnke says.

Recently featured at an intimate fashion show at the Trois Estate at Enchanted Rock, near Fredericksburg, Dahnke described her designs as “Victorian cowgirl” with a very feminine feel. This style emerged when the movie Titanic captivated audiences in the early ’90s, just as Dhanke started designing full-time. Today, she uses luxurious fabrics that “melt in your hand,” which are then hand dyed to accentuate surface textures. Her garments can be dressed up with heels, or paired with cowboy boots for a “cattle baroness” image.

Stepping Out

Dahnke started down the runway toward her career when she married her next-door neighbor, a dress salesman. She opened three clothing stores called Damsels in Disdress in the Houston area, retailing designer dress samples that her husband would otherwise have warehoused during each season. Pat grew the business to include other designers discovered on fashion buying trips to New York. The stores did well despite the economic problems plaguing Houston, and most of Texas, during the oil bust of the ’80s.

Then her son was diagnosed, and the family spent seven agonizing months at Texas Children’s Hospital before he died. During this time, Pat sold two of the three clothing shops from the hospital room and emerged from the experience heartbroken, divorced and broke.

During the hardship, her faith in God grew, and she felt that He was guiding her into the next phase of her life. Through the insomnia that haunted her after Kent’s death, Dahnke’s creativity flowed, and she began designing her own clothing and accessories on that old sewing machine. With rent to pay and the bills piling up, she had an idea: She would harness the resources and support of her friends, take them to market with her, have them purchase the clothing that would be sold at her remaining store and take a commission of the sales. She utilized this buying technique to remain in business and keep her clothing inventory fresh, all while continuing to create her own fashions at night.

Eventually, Dahnke realized that her own designs sold faster than other brands, and usually the day after she put them on the racks. Thus, Designs by Pat was born. In 1991 she sold the store, hired a few buyers for the raw materials and concentrated 100 percent on designing.

Rainbows and Renewal

Having grown up with horses, Dahnke began riding again with her daughter as an outlet to the long hours she was putting into her growing business. “The best place for the inside of the body, is on the outside of a horse,” she claims. Living out this belief, she and her daughter, now in her early 30s, run Rainbows End Ranch in Waller, Texas.

“Rainbows End is named after the rainbows that Kent sent to me after he died,” Dahnke says. Her daughter runs the horse training business on the same ranch that Dahnke now manufacturers all of her clothing and accessories. “We share the love of horses and enjoy many happy hours on the trail,” Dahnke says.

She and Tara have joined the Salt Grass Trail Ride, every year for the past 23 years. This seven-day event kicks off the annual Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo,  reenacting the trail ride of the pioneer cattlemen from Brenham to Houston.

Dahkne also has a son named Kirk, who has been in restaurant management in Houston for many years. “I am extremely proud of my children,” she says, a glimmer in her eyes.

American Woman

 “I now spend most of my time selling, marketing and designing, and almost every item is made on the ranch in Waller,” she says. She relies on her manager, Jan Kittrell, and seamstresses, including Alma Horn, Irasema McCoy, Linda Young and Rosa Aguilara. All have been with Dahnke for five years and some as long as 14 years.

“With most American manufacturers turning to China for their production, I take pride in using American,” and more specifically, “Texan labor. I pay Social Security and withholding taxes like a proud American,” she says.

Dahnke’s designs are currently sold in more than 300 upscale boutiques throughout the country, but perhaps her most successful designs have been her hipster belts. She designs them to be reversible, with colorful acid washed or distressed, animal hide print on one side and a more neutral leather on the other. With wild, ankle-length fringe, the belts can dress up jeans, or, accented with rhinestones, leather or short fringe trim, add panache to any outfit, even a business suit.

 Dahnke strives to design clothing and accessories for women that “work in the triangle” of a woman’s perfect or not-so-perfect figure. She utilizes the concept of having the shoulder pads on the outside to make hips look slimmer by widening the shoulders. Her designs are usually cut on the bias, accentuating the natural curves of a woman’s body, and they tend to lay on the body in a more flattering way.

Celebrity fans include Tanya Tucker, Lacy J. Dalton and Reba McIntyre, to name a few. Her designs are more like wearable art, and she prides herself on being a true American designer.
 
Visit www.designsbypat.com.