DBSI Wins Best Hair & Makeup at the IIDA Southwest Couture Showcase

Design has a quiet kind of power, especially in commercial environments, where intentional choices in carpet, textures, patterns, and finishes work together to create an experience that feels effortless. When a space feels modern, elevated, and intuitive, it’s not accidental. It’s the product of countless deliberate decisions made by designers who understand how materials influence emotion, behavior, and comfort.

Fashion design, however, lives at the opposite end of the spectrum. Instead of blending in, it’s about making a statement and exploring what’s possible. That’s what makes the IIDA Southwest Couture Showcase, sponsored by Sherwin-Williams, unique. Each year, design teams transform building materials like trim, molding, laminates, and hardware into runway-ready pieces. It’s a chance to push creative boundaries and show what our teams can do. It’s a collision of creativity, craft, and imagination.

 

This year, DBSI’s interior design team spent months doing what they do best: transforming materials into meaning. 

For the 2026 showcase, Portals: Threads Through Time, our designers represented the “Digital Age.” Our goal was to show the tension many of us feel today, caught between the constant pull of technology and the need to reconnect with the natural world.

To bring that idea to life, our team, in partnership with Stinson and Mannington, used carpet fabrics, wallcoverings, and welded rods to create a one-of-a-kind couture piece. One side of the garment highlights the digital world with structured shapes, sharp lines, and metallic details. The other side uses softer textures and natural colors to represent the calm and connection we look for outside of our screens.

The finished piece stood out on the runway, earning DBSI the award for Best Hair & Makeup. More importantly, it showed the creativity and intention our team brings to every project. Whether we’re designing a couture garment or a financial institution, we focus on purpose, story, and creating spaces that inspire and connect.

And this year, on the couture stage, that sentiment took center stage. See the full look.