I grew up in Texas and moved to New York after college. Almost immediately, I understood how special this city is. How it dazzles, maddens, and inspires those of us who pass through.

Admitting I wanted to be an entrepreneur was the easy part. It was a relatively safe confession. The harder, scarier truth was that I wanted to be an artist.

Both dreams stayed with me until one day they stopped feeling mutually exclusive.

I started paying closer attention to fashion wherever I went: in store windows, thrift shops, and markets along the way.

I became fascinated by how a garment draped, why a stitch was placed a certain way, how fabric could shift the essence of a piece—and how people seemed to transform when they felt embodied in what they wore.

The more I traveled, the more it accumulated: silhouettes, palettes, references, ideas. A point of view began to take shape beyond any one place.

Rarely did I find something that felt fully right and I started to wonder if I could make something better—or at the very least, different.

I didn’t have industry credentials when I started, and I didn’t want to wait for them. What I had was taste, conviction, and a statement I wanted to make.

HCTR launched in New York in May 2025, and I’ve been building on a feeling ever since.

- Emily Hector, Founder & Creative Director