Lane Hitt, a Ford model from Plano, talked to his friend and fellow model John VanBeber for months about how he wanted to build something of his own. VanBeber, who grew up in Arlington and spent his college years at TCU feeling like fashion had no room for him, was ready to listen.<\/p>\n
Two years later, the brand they conceptualized that day, Aethera, became one of 10 selected for ATX Fashion Week\u2019s pop-up market<\/a>. The three-day event ran May 7-9 at Barton Creek Square mall in Austin.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re just two kids from Texas trying to make it,\u201d Hitt said.<\/p>\n The path from North Texas to New York to that pop-up booth in Austin was neither straight nor simple.<\/p>\n Hitt\u2019s entry into fashion came by accident. At 14, his mother posted a football yearbook photo on Facebook. A photographer reached out and a shoot in Dallas followed. From there, an agency in Dallas connected him to an agency in New York. By 17, he finished high school early and signed with Ford Models in New York<\/a>.<\/p>\n While at Texas Christian University, VanBeber said creative pathways in fashion felt effectively closed off to him. His sister, who studied fashion merchandising at the same school, told him he would likely be the only male in the program.<\/p>\n \u201cThere was minimal to zero creative opportunities for myself, and I think males in general, that grow up in a Southern climate,\u201d VanBeber said. \u201cIt wasn\u2019t till I moved to New York and began immersing myself in that fashion scene that I realized I had some creative itch that I was attempting to scratch.\u201d<\/p>\n When VanBeber returned to Fort Worth after a summer in New York in 2016 \u2014 wearing the then in-style skinny jeans and longer T-shirts he\u2019d picked up \u2014 he felt judgment from his peers.<\/p>\n \u201cFor the next two years, I would just catch heat and kind of have a big target on my back and get ridiculed for having a sense of fashion,\u201d VanBeber said.\u00a0<\/p>\n The experience solidified his goal to move to New York after graduation.\u00a0<\/p>\n Hitt described a similar feeling. He was drawn to costume design in a high school theater class but never enrolled. The class had no male students, and the social cost felt too high, he said.<\/p>\n \u201cYou definitely feel deterred from that,\u201d he said. \u201cI hope it\u2019s better now.\u201d<\/p>\n Both men eventually landed in New York\u2019s modeling world, where they met through a mutual friend and discovered they had grown up roughly 30 minutes apart.<\/p>\n The brand idea that emerged from that sauna conversation took months to take shape. They considered underwear, T-shirts, swimwear and finally landed on jewelry after visiting shops such as David Yurman and Cartier for inspiration.<\/p>\n Aethera launched in 2024 with a 19-piece sterling silver jewelry collection. The line features lab-grown diamonds and precious gemstones. VanBeber said the collection\u2019s distinguishing feature was its logo: the Aethera Star, a seven-point starburst he designed and refined over multiple iterations.<\/p>\n The seven points were intentional. They correspond to the seven letters in Aethera, and VanBeber said the asymmetry was deliberate \u2014 he wanted to avoid the logo reading as a compass.<\/p>\n \u201cThe starburst is just a beacon of inspiration and empowerment,\u201d he said. \u201cIt represents freedom and a way out of the 9 to 5.\u201d<\/p>\n The brand has since grown to roughly 30 products, including apparel. Approaching its two-year anniversary on May 22, Aethera has grossed just under $200,000 entirely through direct-to-consumer sales, word of mouth and pop-ups, VanBeber said.<\/p>\n Hitt and VanBeber said they carry the psychological weight of what the modeling industry can do to the people inside it. Creative directors zooming in on bodies on set. Constant rejection. Years of idle time. Both said they hope Aethera can one day direct a portion of proceeds toward men\u2019s mental health organizations.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s hard to go years and years trying to chase that high of being on set and just constantly hearing no,\u201d Hitt said. \u201cIt has done a lot of bad things to friends of mine.\u201d<\/p>\n Hitt said he applied to ATX Fashion Week after the selection period technically closed. He isn\u2019t exactly sure how they got selected, but both are grateful for the opportunity to expand their reach outside of New York.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re getting more traction here because we are this cool New York brand, and no one\u2019s seen us yet,\u201d Hitt said. \u201cStarting to sell outside of New York, I think, is really what we needed.\u201d<\/p>\n The brand is also eyeing a longer-term Texas presence. VanBeber floated the idea of university-adjacent designs by using their signature \u201cwife pleaser\u201d tank tops with school-colored embroidery that are a nod to Texas campuses.<\/p>\n For now, both founders said the work is harder than they anticipated and they have no plans to stop.<\/p>\n \u201cIf we knew it was going to be this hard, there are times where we probably wouldn\u2019t have done it,\u201d Hitt said. \u201cBut until you try, you\u2019re never going to know.\u201d<\/p>\n For Hitt and VanBeber, North Texas was a place where creative risk felt harder to take \u2014 where the social cost of standing out ran high enough to steer them away from what they actually wanted to do.\u00a0<\/p>\n Hitt said he hoped that has since changed.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s so many talented artists in Texas,\u201d he said. \u201cIf we lived in a world where they weren\u2019t scared to go out and open galleries and start throwing brands \u2014 even if you fail, do it again.\u201d<\/p>\n Nicole Williams Quezada is a reporting fellow for the Fort Worth Report. Contact her at nicole.williams@fortworthreport.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/fortworthreport.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Photo_Jan_11_2025_9_30_36_PM_29-679x1024.jpg\")
Aethera co-founders John VanBeber, left, and Lane Hitt wear the brand\u2019s Aethera Hoodie. The New York-based label launched its debut collection in 2024. (Courtesy | Aethera)<\/p>\n