Background
Dao was born in Pakse, Laos to an ethnic Vietnamese family.
Dao was born in Pakse, Laos to an ethnic Vietnamese family.
Dao attended the University of Houston and studied marketing, dropping out after a year and a half.
Many of the pieces in her finale collection featured billowing, voluminous sleeves, removable shrugs and strong brocade prints. During the Vietnamese civil war Dao"s parents moved to Thailand to escape the conflict. Growing up she redesigned vintage clothes.
Her first original was her senior prom dress.
Education and early career
She then enrolled at Houston Community College"s design program and at New York"s Fashion Institute of Technology (Fashion Institute Of Technology), graduating in 1994 with an associate"s degree in pattern-making. While still at Fashion Institute Of Technology, Dao took a job with Madame Rossuel, a costume couture shop on the Upper East Side of New York City.
After graduation, she worked at knit and sportswear company, Finity as a design assistant and patternmaker. Leaving Finity after one year, she took a job with Melinda Engineer as a design assistant and production manager, where she stayed for six years.
She then went to work for Catherine Dietlein as an assistant buyer before returning to Houston to open her own boutique, Lot 8.
The name of the store is a reference to the eight Dao sisters in her family. Her clothes have been featured in Lucky magazine as well as in a variety of Texas publications including the Houston Chronicle and Texas Monthly. Project Runway
In the end, the judges selected her collection over those by the other finalists: Santino Rice and Daniel Vosovic.
After Project Runway
In July 2006, She was in a popular Vietnamese music show called Paris By Night.
She was in Paris By Night 84
In January 2007, Dao"s designs were featured in the Smithsonian Museum in the "Exit Saigon, Enter Little Saigon" exhibit. Dao"s reputation for understanding women and their bodies landed her a contract with Dove as their national spokesperson for the "Sleeveless Ready" campaign.
During Spring 2007 New York Fashion Week, LensCrafters chose Dao as the featured designer and as a panelist along with Tim Gunn, Hal Rubenstein, Bobbie Thomas, and Gretta Monahan to discuss eyewear"s role as the "it" accessory. In May 2007, Dao premiered a 13-piece collection on Quality, Value, Convenience called Simply.
Chloe Dao. which sold out during the televised broadcast.
In 2008 her style and modern sensibility led her to partner with Nuo Technical to create a line of mobile technology and travel accessories, available in Spring 2009. She debuted her wholesale line "DAO Chloe DAO" in March, 2008 at the Dallas Market Center. In 2013, she became a judge in Project Runway Vietnam season 1.