Brian Bolke is a Dallas retail visionary, the savvy mind behind luxury stores Forty Five Ten and The Conservatory, with their one-two punch of trendiness and timelessness. Bolke, 56, describes himself differently.
“I am a really good roller skater,” he says. “I have a lot of fancy jackets. I wear a lot of pink.”
Bolke was born in Southern California but moved to Dallas 31 years ago to help run Pottery Barn on Knox Street. He went on to work at Neiman Marcus, and in 2000, he cofounded the Forty Five Ten boutique on McKinney Avenue (named after the store’s original address). He’s since sold that business and opened The Conservatory, a sumptuous store in Highland Park Village with another location in New York City’s Hudson Yards.
Married to luxury real-estate broker Faisal Halum, Bolke has a style sense unparalleled in the city, though he also has a playful side. “I’m a quadruple Gemini,” he says, meaning his astrological chart has extra doses of the sign known for intellectual trickery and charm. “You can imagine how that wreaks havoc on one’s life.”
How do you describe Dallas to people who don’t live here?
I tell people they can’t lump Houston, Austin and Dallas into some Texan stereotype. They are completely different cities. No one lumps San Diego, Los Angeles and San Francisco together. Dallas is like a weird center of the universe. It’s not really the South, or the Midwest, or the North, or the East or the West. It’s just … Dallas.
The people here are generous, sophisticated, cultured, polite and just plain nice. I get asked about the way women dress, and I always say, “unapologetically glamorous.”
What bothers you about Dallas?
The condition of the streets, especially mine. And being insensitive about what is torn down and what is saved.
Tex-Mex or BBQ, and where?
Tex-Mex. Doce Mesas on McKinney, every Sunday.
Why is Dallas such a shopping mecca?
It’s in the DNA. The bar was set high by Neiman Marcus a century ago to create a truly regional destination for all things fashion and luxury, which is really about a dream. Everyone wants to dream.
What are your thoughts on Neiman Marcus skedaddling from downtown?
Certain things are inevitable, but there was a more thoughtful and gracious way to go about it.
No one asked me, but I hope it becomes a fashion museum, something to rival the Met’s Costume Institute. Dallas could support that, and it’s what the city deserves. I’ll happily chair the opening.
