With her signature nail color — a specific deep navy she’s been getting from the same nail salon for as long as she can remember — perfectly placed jewelry adorning each finger and wrist and a presence that immediately makes you feel as though you’ve been friends for years, Alexa Gignac is distinctly herself. In many ways, she always has been.
As a little girl, Gignac cut up her Barbie clothes to create new looks and altered her school uniform to better fit her personal style. The costumes, makeup and production of theater classes appealed to her just as much as performing. And, with numerous family members in creative fields and an aunt who was a seamstress, Gignac jokes that fashion and creativity might just be in her blood. Looking back, the connective thread is almost too obvious, and today, it shows itself on a larger scale, and often, for other people.
By 19, Gignac knew she wanted a career in fashion, and got a job at one of the Coastal Bend’s only high-end retailers, Julian Gold. She was hooked on putting together the perfect ensemble for clients, but she knew she could do more. After a brief stint at local boutique Coastal Closet, she rejoined the Julian Gold team as the store director’s assistant and, in February 2020, stepped into the store director’s position.
She had to go from co-worker to leader among a team that, in many cases, had known her since she first walked onto the sales floor at 19. “You learn, and you evolve alongside your teammates and you make one another better,” she said.Gignac finally got the job she’d been working toward, but at quite possibly the worst time for retail: the pandemic. In a swift act of creative genius, she began curating full wardrobes in the window displays for people to drive up, browse and shop; and even began making home deliveries to meet clients’ needs…