Zach Earhart
Audio By Carbonatix
For more than a decade, Jonathan Hinguanzo, owner of the popular vintage boutique Human Dior in downtown, has been giving hypebeasts all over Dallas a reason to step out.
Now, he’s expanded his focus to the Y2K girlies with his newest endeavor: Satori. Opened this fall at 1322 N. Peak Street, the pink-infused boutique is a fantasy land for lovers of baguette bags, baby tees and “going-out tops,” and each carefully curated rack comes down to Hinguanzo’s expert eye.
“It’s pretty much the same demographic of people who shop at Human Dior — 18 to 30-year-olds,” he tells us. “I’m catering to more young professionals [and] the girl who likes to go out on the weekend and dance. I’m not a stylist. I’m just myself. But I’ve been doing a good job with the stuff I’ve picked. I want it to be for people who know what they’re looking for and know they’re getting a good deal. We have rare stuff that people don’t see.”
Indeed, Satori is stocked with vintage clothes and accessories from a who’s who of designers who traffic in color, print and pattern. Eagle-eye shoppers can find everything from Galliano-era Dior suede jackets to Japanese tees from Kapital, Vivienne Westwood jewelry and Hysteric Glamour minis. With items ranging from $25 to over $2,000 (that Dior jacket doesn’t come cheap), Hinguanzo aims to have a little bit of something for everyone, sourcing items from all over the globe.
“I was in Thailand for two weeks and brought back two fat luggage bags of clothing and shipped a big ass box,” he says. “I’m on the phone or my computer monthly. I found some good vintage in Australia. I found some good designer stuff in Europe. Most of everything is secondhand. I go to these markets, peep what women are wearing, and buy based on that style. I’m trying to buy as much Robert Cavalli, Dior and Diesel as possible.”
Named after the Japanese Buddhist term for “awakening” or “understanding,’ Satori has very different vibes from Human Dior, but to Hinguanzo, they’re inextricably connected. Better known as Jon Jon, the retailer has built an intimate empire on knowing what his customers need even before they do, from his earliest days working for the streetwear shop Black Market.
“I have no background in fashion or anything, I just saw an opportunity and took it,” Hinguanzo recalls. “I got into sneakers first, there were sneaker shows going around, and I knew the secondhand market was going to be a big thing in the future.”
Raised in Oak Cliff, Hinguanzo was first introduced to fashion through his “metrosexual dad.”
“He was into the brands of the ‘90s like Polo, Calvin Klein and Armani,” Hinguanzo says. “My mom has always been stylish, and she won best dressed her senior year. My grandmother was a seamstress for 40 years, so I’m sure that all played a part.”
Sara Everheart
After thrifting for a few years, he was selling finds on Craigslist before opening the first Human Dior pop-up in the Design District, blending reconstructed originals with the likes of Bathing Ape and Japanese streetwear. After moving around the city to a few different locales, he landed on his current Dior location at 416 South Ervay five years ago, where he has added labels such as Chrome Hearts, Rick Owens and Raf Simons into the mix.
To complement that trendsetting male customer, Hinguanzo has hired young, energetic girls at Satori who plan parties, events and art pop-ups to appeal to its growing clientele. As the retailer originally considered the name “Nirvana” for Human Dior, expanding on the concept of sudden enlightenment with his new shop’s name and logo made sense for his growing empire. After all, it was a moment of enlightenment that led him into the industry in the first place.
“It’s a Japanese logo, literally their symbolism for nirvana, the full circle of life,” he explains. “It’s about the duality of man and how god gives us free will to choose right and wrong and what we’re going to do in life. And I just want to give people happiness, to help them find something that fits them so good. I love that feeling.”
