Abraham Alexander is an Oscar-nominated singer-songwriter whose sound blends soul, folk, blues, and Americana into a deeply personal and cinematic body of work. Born in Greece to Nigerian parents and raised in Fort Worth, Texas, Alexander’s music reflects themes of identity, home, and the quiet emotional weight of lived experience.

His debut album, SEA/SONS, introduced him as a distinctive new voice in American music, earning critical acclaim for its emotional honesty, raw storytelling, and genre-defying sound.

A defining moment in his journey came through a chance encounter with fellow Fort Worth musician Leon Bridges, an interaction that helped open new creative doors and accelerate his path as an artist.

In 2025, Alexander earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Song for “Like a Bird,” written for the film Sing Sing, further establishing him as one of the most compelling emerging voices in contemporary music.

Courtney E. Smith is a Texas food writer, journalist, editor, and co-founder of Ravenous whose work explores the people, restaurants, and cultural forces shaping the future of food. Raised in an East Texas restaurant-owning family, Courtney’s deep connection to food is paired with a distinguished media career spanning CBS Radio, Refinery29, nearly a decade at MTV, and her time as Texas editor at Eater. Her reporting on Texas dining has covered everything from neighborhood gems and food trucks to James Beard-recognized and Michelin-recognized restaurants. Known for her honest, informative, and ethical approach to storytelling, Courtney brings a unique perspective on hospitality, culinary trends, and the evolving identity of Texas food culture.

Jon Flaming is one the best honored regional artists working today. His abstracted representations of the Texas scene are colorful and painterly. His choice of subject matter is engaging and his compositions are elegant. His regionalist style is reminiscent of the best from the classic bygone Texas era, and bring to mind some of the greatest regionalist like Everrett Spruce, William Lester, Florence McClung and Alexander Hogue. His work hangs in many prominent museums including the permanent collection of the Amon Carter Museum in Fort Worth and the Booth Museum of Western Art in Georgia. Collectors both corporate and private covet his work for its distinctively sophisticated graphic style. Jon has also been featured in many well known periodicals including Auberge Magazine, D Magazine, Architectural Digest, Texas Monthly, The Dallas Morning News, Cowboys & Indians and Luxe Interiors + Design Magazine.

Karla became Editor in Chief of Vogue Mexico and Latin America in June 2016 and later Head of Editorial Content in July 2021. Since then, she has continued with the exclusive editorial line of the title, where her projects have established new alliances in the market.
Following her role as head of Vogue Mexico and Latin America, she has been interviewed multiple times by major publications such as El Heraldo Mexico and Business of Fashion NY and Spain, where she has explored her expertise as an opinion leader in the direction of the fashion and luxury industry. She has also appeared in television and on radio with recognized TV hosts such as Martha Debayle, Eddy Warman, EdySmol, and Oscar Madrazo, where she has shared her achievements and projects during her first year at Vogue Mexico and Latin America.

Korena Bolding is a Texas-based art director and international travel photographer whose work blends cinematic storytelling with a refined global aesthetic. As a photographer for Virtuoso, she has documented destinations across Antarctica, Africa, Uruguay, and beyond, creating visual narratives that capture both scale and intimacy in some of the world’s most remote and iconic locations.

Alongside her international work, Bolding remains deeply connected to the visual language of the American West. Her portfolio often returns to subjects such as cowboys, rodeo culture, and the landscapes of Big Bend, Texas—where texture, light, and heritage converge in her signature style.

Through both commercial and editorial work, Korena Bolding has built a distinct visual identity rooted in atmosphere, authenticity, and a cinematic approach to place, bridging global travel storytelling with the enduring spirit of the American West.

Kyle Bunting is an Austin-based designer and founder who transformed hide from a traditionally rustic material into a sophisticated medium for contemporary interior design. After leaving a career in media, Bunting built his namesake company around custom decorative hide and pioneered a new category of luxury design. Today, the Austin studio creates highly customized hide, wool and silk rugs, wall coverings and other architectural surfaces for leading interior designers, architects, hospitality projects and private clients around the world.

For over two decades, Bunting has built an intentionally limitless design philosophy: “any size, any shape, any color.” His work combines European materials, Texas craftsmanship and an obsessive approach to customization, with French Charolais hides tanned in Italy and handcrafted in Austin. The company has collaborated with designers and artists including Amy Lau, Jan Showers, Timothy Corrigan and Douglas Friedman. 

Lauren Mahoney and Matthew Owen are the founders of Lauren Owen of Texas. Before launching the brand, the husband-and-wife team spent more than a decade helping shape the creative vision of some of America’s most influential lifestyle brands.

Mahoney held senior design and concept leadership roles across Anthropologie and Urban Outfitters before serving as Chief Brand Officer at Outdoor Voices.

Owen led global brand identity and creative direction for Urban Outfitters before becoming Chief Creative Officer at Outdoor Voices.

Together, their careers have been rooted in the world of lifestyle branding, where fashion, interiors, retail, design, and storytelling intersect. Today, through Lauren Owen of Texas, they bring that experience to a distinctly Texas point of view inspired by heritage, craftsmanship, and timeless design.

Lizzie Means Duplantis and Sarah Means Ward are the sister founders of Miron Crosby, the Dallas-based luxury cowboy boot brand redefining Western fashion for a new generation. Raised on a fifth-generation cattle ranch in West Texas and shaped by careers in finance and fashion in New York City, they launched Miron Crosby to combine authentic craftsmanship, bespoke design, and Texas heritage with modern luxury. Today, Miron Crosby is recognized as one of the leading names in luxury cowboy boots, attracting discerning customers from Dallas, Aspen, Nashville, and beyond. Their story is one of entrepreneurship, family legacy, artisan craftsmanship, and the evolution of Western luxury in America.

Rob Wilson is a New York–based illustrator and graphic designer originally from Ralls, West Texas. His work is known for its clean, concept-driven visual language that blends editorial illustration, branding, and storytelling with wit and restraint.

His client and design work includes The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, The Washington Post Magazine, Bloomberg Businessweek, Design Within Reach, Hudson Yards, Neiman Marcus, J.Crew, HarperCollins, Perini Ranch, Refinery29, Valentino, Warby Parker, Todd Snyder, Maisonette, Nasher Sculpture Center, Café Luxembourg, and many more.

Wilson’s work has been recognized by AIGA, Communication Arts, Print, the Type Directors Club, and Graphis, and he was nominated for the Cooper Hewitt National Design Award.

He continues to work internationally from New York, creating visual systems and illustrations that sit at the intersection of contemporary design, editorial culture, and modern retail branding.