STYLE: Charlotte Fashion Designer Daniel Gonzalez

Daniel Gonzalez’s studio is on a well-traveled stretch of Providence Road in Eastover, but it’s easy to miss on your first visit. It occupies a suite on the second floor of the red brick building that’s been home to John Dabbs, Ltd. since 1972. Unlike its top-billed tenant, whose sign is prominently displayed on the building’s street-facing side, Gonzalez’s is limited to a small plaque beside the entrance. But he likes it that way. He doesn’t advertise, and since he opened Daniel Gonzalez Designs five years ago, all of his business has been word-of-mouth.

At the top of a narrow flight of stairs is a cave-like hallway with a row of three doors on the right. The middle one opens to Gonzalez’s atelier, a portal into his creative mind. Sunlight pours through the windows, and each corner brims with colorful bolts of fabric, oversized spools of thread, and racks of clothing from his ready-to-wear collection. Glass partitions separate the seamstress’s workspace from the patternmaker’s; just past their stations is an office where two interns sit with their laptops—one on an upholstered couch wedged between piles of folded garments, the other at a desk cluttered with sketch books and fabric samples.

Gonzalez releases two new collections each year. Photo by Rusty Williams

Gonzalez has just finished a client’s fitting when he emerges from an alterations room lined with mirrors and mannequins. He apologizes for the surplus of clothing racks—he’s getting ready for a trunk show at Capitol—and invites me to have a seat on a sofa beside the alteration station. It’s the beginning of wedding season, so he’s fitted quite a few mothers-of-the-bride this week.

“Charlotte women like to have fun with their fashion,” he says. “There’s always a luncheon or a fundraiser or gala, and women here dress incredibly.” He doesn’t like to drop names, but his clients run in some elite social circles. “I dress a lot of philanthropists and stuff like that. We have a very connected group of women in this town. You have to earn your spot, because the clients that are buying our kind of thing have the ability to go to Capitol or go to New York.”

Some come to him for a few work pieces, which he’ll pull from his ready-to-wear collection. Others want wedding or debutante ball dresses, which he makes based on one of his sample gowns. The third group, his “dreamer clients,” have looked everywhere and can’t find anything that matches their visions. “We’ll have a brainstorming session, then I’ll produce a sketch for them to approve,” he says. “Then we make the fabric selection and create the pattern.” These gowns typically require five months of lead time and three or four fittings. “I believe in giving everything its due time,” Gonzalez says. “In dressmaking, it takes 60 to 80 hours of work.” 

Gonzalez’s aunt Ruby taught him to make patterns and sew. Courtesy

It’s why he’s so particular about textiles. Gonzalez imports his silk from Brazil, and all of his knitwear is made in Peru. “I’m a little snobby, but I like to find the best material,” he says, “and I’m Latino, so having that focus on production was my way of giving back.”

Gonzalez, 34, moved to the U.S. from Colombia when he was 10. His family, which includes his parents and older brother, first went to Miami, then Gastonia, before they settled in Charlotte. He discovered ballroom dancing as a teenager and designed his first garment for his dance partner. “We started to compete internationally, and we were putting all of our resources into training and traveling, so I asked my mom to show me how to use a sewing machine,” he says. “I made an outfit, took it to the competition, and the judges loved it. Four outfits in, people in the dance studio asked if I could make their stuff.”

After he graduated from UNC Charlotte in 2012 with a degree in business, Gonzalez developed a dance program for kids at Piper Glen Ballroom. But when the studio closed during COVID and his partner quit dancing, he decided to take some online fashion courses. “My parents said, ‘We didn’t mind you being a dancer, but you need a plan B in case you break your knee one day’,” Gonzalez says. “I didn’t break my knee, but I’m so glad I went to school. It gave me a great base when I started my business.”

Gonzalez designed Grantham a gown inspired by the mirror ball for the Dancing With The Stars Charlotte 2024. Courtesy, Molly Grantham

One of his first big clients was former WBTV anchor Molly Grantham when she emceed Dancing With the Stars of Charlotte in 2021. “My brother is a producer of the show,” he says, “so I told (Molly), ‘I want to put you in one of my dresses.’” Grantham loved the gown so much that she shared it on Instagram—and Gonzalez’s brother asked him to design a custom gown for her every year since. “Every time she posts,” he says, “I get three or four people who want something similar.”

He continues to release two major collections annually—spring/summer and fall/winter—and his ready-to-wear pieces will be available at Capitol this fall. “The lines and construction are clean,” he says. “My girl knows she’ll go to the Mint Auxiliary or the golf tournament and it will be ruffles galore, so she’ll wear a beautiful linen skirt instead of a frilly dress and tennis shoes. She wants it to fit beautifully and be made from beautiful material. She’s more concerned with the way she feels rather than what other people are seeing.”