Sarah Means and Lizzie Means Duplantis have always had two things: each other and their boots. "Lizzie would wear them with pencil skirts, turtlenecks and blazers to work in the Financial District," recalls Sarah, "and I styled them with ripped denim and slouchy sweaters in SoHo." They both moved to New York City after graduating from TCU. Lizzie worked for Forbes Magazine, followed by stints at Goldman Sachs and Tiger Global, while Sarah took up a post with handbag and shoe designer Loeffler Randall. Now back in Texas, the sisters launched bespoke cowboy boot brand, Miron Crosby, late last year.
Nestled in a second-floor studio in Highland Park Village, the brand focuses on custom boots, plus an elite off-the-shelf stock collection both in-store and online, with just eight to 15 pairs available in each style. The sisters work with clients on crafting the perfect boot around a large white marble-top table that anchors their Southwestern-influenced studio. "We wanted it to feel like Baja-met-Marfa, with touches of colors and midcentury modern," Sarah says of the space they designed with Dallas-based Droese Raney Architecture and Foxcroft Studio.
Design comes quite naturally to Lizzie and Sarah, who are originally from their family's cattle ranch in Valentine, Texas, near Marfa. Lizzie's children are the sixth generation to participate in the family-owned ranching business since 1884. Upon moving back to Texas, Lizzie started up a furniture rental company, Perch Event Decor, which she later sold to seed Miron Crosby. "I'm so grateful to have previously owned and operated a company. It has helped me to have great perspective."
The two have successfully built on their homegrown passion for boots, keeping family as their inspiration. The company name, Miron Crosby, is a play on their great-grandfather's name, Marian Otis Means. And Crosby is both a pasture on their West Texas ranch as well as a street in SoHo. Lizzie and Sarah also keep production close to home, using the 164-year-old, Texas-based boot making company and factory Rios of Mercedes, owned by their cousins. "We've always had access to designing boots," says Lizzie, who has rows of memorable footwear in her closet, from TCU boots to blue boots for her wedding day, to boots sporting her children's initials. In the Means family, custom boots were a gift from their parents for special occasions, marking major milestones in their lives.
"Miron Crosby is a perfect reflection of us, our heritage, interests and passion," says Lizzie. "Our boots are works of art, and guiding people through the process of designing their own sets us apart."
Miron Crosby
25 Highland Park Village
Suite 201, Dallas
214.238.3385
