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We interviewed Tenille West, founder of FLORAL SEA . Tenille described her brand as a contemporary fashion house aimed at showcasing heritage and representation. Tenille expressed that today's sustainable fashion movement is not genuinely inclusive nor representative of Black and multicultural people like herself, and that she wanted to change that. Her mission is to to set history as the first Afro-Latina to own and operate a global contemporary fashion house as the founder and designer. Her brand stands as Austin's first fashion enterprise to showcase Black-Latinx culture and style is at the intersection of luxury fashion, art, and sustainability.
Originating as a college assignment titled 'The New Color,' the concept of the business started as a floral print design that was a reinvention of the 21st Century Color-Wheel. Utilizing 'full-spectrum' as her color strategy, Tenille desired to showcase how colors can coexist harmoniously if they are arranged abstractly in contrast to their uniform placement (i.e the traditional color-wheel). The use and presentation of color is the most harmonious when every hue can coexist imperfectly. To further push the relationship between color and irregularity, Tenille illustrated her experimental color-wheel in her personal artistic style of irregular floral forms—unintentionally reinventing floral print. The name, FLORAL SEA, was inspired by a recurring dream where Tenille would be surrounded by emptiness, and all of a sudden, vividly colorful floral-like forms would emanate from the bare surface of her skin, invading the entire space she was in. It was like a ‘floral sea.’ The dream inspired a new pov, a creative lens, in which she wanted to study and explore both her personal and cultural identity through.
Tenille has big plans for her business in the future including launching new collections, expanding the brand's retail presence, and a brand relaunch to accommodate a new retail partnership with a major high-end department store. Tenille values sustainability and quality at every aspect of design and production. Like art, her products are designed to be investment pieces, and Tenille cares deeply about the stories they tell. The message and story of FLORAL SEA is what gives her pieces value.
Tenille and her company FLORAL SEA show us what it means to be an entrepreneurial leader, and to stay true to ourselves. She is committed to utilizing creative expression and entrepreneurship as social agents to uplift, empower, and drive change for ALL underrepresented and underserved beauty, style, and culture in today's industry where genuine representation remains limited. As a female founder, Tenille hopes to inspire a new generation of designers who will fearlessly access their imagination and innovate and design their future from creative intuition. With inclusivity and sincerity at the core of her work, Tenille's company will go far. By embracing her Afro-Latinx heritage, she also inspires people of color to be proud of their roots and use them as an anchor for their aspirations.
When we were interviewing Tenille, we could tell that she embraces her racial identity and understands her values, which are encompassed together to form her brand. She is such a powerful leader, and I am so excited for her as she works to promote and expand her brand.
About The Authors:
Abigail Dewhirst '25
Design
Jorge Sandoval '23
Management
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