Dallas stylist J. Bolin made his name dressing the stars, now he wants to style you

Dallas-based multi-hyphenate J. Bolin, known for styling R&B artist Brandy and Dallas Pastor Sarah Jakes Roberts, is bringing his talents together under one roof for his new business venture, House of Bolin.

Bolin has built a dream-worthy fashion career by betting on himself. His career took a significant turn when he began gaining mainstream visibility for styling supermodel Tyra Banks during her Dallas book tour stop for “Perfect Is Boring: 10 Things My Crazy, Fierce Mama Taught Me about Beauty, Booty, and Being a Boss” in 2018. At the event, she told the audience he reached out and offered to style her for free, but his tenacity earned him a new paying client.

Since then, he’s worked with a long slate of celebrities and public figures, including SWV, LeToya Luckett, En Vogue and Morris Chestnut, building a social media audience of more than half a million followers along the way. After years of helping shape the public image of entertainers, athletes and high-profile clients, the Mississippi native is preparing to take his creative identity center stage. 

In early June, Bolin announced his new entrepreneurial endeavor, House of Bolin and an accompanying event called “The Pivot Tour” on July 18 at the Kimpton Pittman Hotel in Deep Ellum.

For Bolin, the move from stylist to architect of a larger creative house didn’t begin with a rebrand.

“I’m not the person who says, ‘Oh, my word of the year is this,’” he says. “I’ve never been that guy before. But I remember God telling me that this year is [the] year of transformation for people, for the world’s transformation. And I was thinking, I do makeovers. I’m amazing at makeovers. I can do makeovers for women across the world, but I didn’t realize that I was going to be the one who was getting the transformation. What I thought was going to be for other people ended up being for me.”

Bolin’s return comes after a hiatus; he previously launched a clothing line in 2020 called “The Debut,” and now, he’s looking forward to a ceremonious return.

“My two-year break from retail, people thought I left because I got too busy with celebrities,” Bolin says. “I’ve seen it written on my page a million times. ‘When are you going to have time for us again? We’re congratulating you. We’re cheering for you. We love you, but when are you going to take a break from the celebrities and come back to us, every day hardworking women and men, and give us some of these cool looks?’”

For nearly two decades, Bolin’s name lived behind the looks he created for others. Building something where his face is in focus requires a different kind of reckoning.

“All of my other brands have always been about the model being the face, or the celebrity client being the face,” he tells us. “It’s never been about me. And this isn’t about me, but this is about me being a trusted voice in style. That’s the goal here, so that people can see my face as a trusted voice in style. It’s not necessarily me trying to flaunt … It’s not any of that. It’s really so that people can connect a face to a voice.”

When “The Pivot Tour” debuts, what waits inside is not a rack of clothes. It is every dimension of Bolin’s creative world — fashion, home and interiors — occupying the same room at the same time. The event features a ticketed VIP Front Row Preview, which has already sold out, with intimate, priority access before the doors are unlocked for free general admission.

“Close your eyes and imagine with me,” he says. “You walk into the House of Bolin experience, and you show up earlier than everyone else … You get in a room, and then you see a moment where I get the opportunity to expose what the brand is, have a direct conversation with everybody about what the brand is, what to expect.” 

The Fitting Room, Bolin says, is “an honest mirror moment most people never get with a professional in the room.” 

With the July kickoff approaching and no additional Pivot Tour stops announced, Bolin is clear that it’s not an oversight.

“It’s intentional because my focus should be on getting it right here,” he says. “After all, again, it’s the incubator. I’m not out trying to make new babies when I got one on oxygen.”

The Pivot Tour will be on July 18 at the Kimpton Pittman Hotel (2551 Elm St.). More information can be found on the brand’s official website.