Texas
How Two Sisters From Texas Bootstrapped A Luxury Cowboy Boot Brand, Miron Crosby
Miron Crosby flagship studio in Highland Park Village, Dallas
There’s a certain class of ultra-luxury brands that only a select few know about. These cognoscenti brands are ultra-exclusive, ultra-authentic and often ultra-expensive but also handcrafted for those who value ultra-quality.
That was the original definition of “quiet luxury,” until it morphed into a no-logos fashion look that everybody seems to be wearing these days.
Miron Crosby is such an original “quiet luxury” brand, but the product it makes is anything but quiet – bespoke, luxury cowboy boots. Miron Crosby serves a narrow niche within the wider luxury boot market, but that’s the thing about ultra-niche luxury brands. Its niche clientele pull others who want to be in the know into the brand’s orbit.
In true “quiet luxury” fashion, Miron Crosby whispers, it doesn’t shout. It’s become a thriving business that has grown into three stores, called studios, since its founding in 2017.
Its flagship studio is located in Dallas’ exclusive Highland Park Village. Houston opened last year in historic Lamar River Oaks center and in its first venture outside Texas, it has a studio in Aspen, CO where the quiet-luxury crowd flocks in the winter. Miron Crosby also has a thriving e-commerce business where you can design-your-own boots in your private jet.
“We are a fashion brand that makes cowboy boots and the fashion component is what really differentiates us,” shared co-founder Lizzie Means Duplantis with me.
“There was a total void in the market for handmade, hand lasted cowboy boots that were really ‘luxe’ and fashion forward, particularly for women,” though the company also offers boots for men and kids too.
Boots In The Blood
Lizzie is joined by her younger sister Sarah Means in the Miron Crosby adventure. They grew up on a far-flung cattle ranch outside Marfa, TX, which their family has run since 1884 – just a year after the fictional Yellowstone Dutton family set off from Texas to Montana, but I digress.
The company name is a take on their great-grandfather’s, Marian Otis Means, with Crosby coming from the name of a pasture on the ranch and it’s also their favorite street in SoHo.
Growing up, cowboy boots were part of the sisters’ ranch uniform, but being girls with an interest in fashion, they never settled for standard styles. They had a special insiders’ connection where cowboy boots were concerned.
Their cousins owned the Rios of Mercedes Boot Company in South Texas and the girls were able to design their own boots and play with colors and materials at an early age.
Rios remains one of Miron Crosby’s three valued manufacturing partners operating on both sides of the Rio Grande.
Winding Road Back To Texas
After attending an Austin boarding school, both sisters graduated from Texas Christian University in Fort Worth, then headed to New York City to make their way.
Lizzie’s first gig was as an intern in the marketing department at Forbes, which she turned into a full-time gig for five years. After that, she moved into finance at Goldman Sachs. Sarah followed a path in fashion, working for Loeffler Randall, which specializes in footwear.
But both women brought their cowboy boots along to NYC. “I was kind of Uptown and Sarah, as the creative one, was more Downtown, but we both wore our cowboy boots to work,” Lizzie said. “So I’d go to Goldman in my pencil skirts with my cowboy boots and Sarah did the same. Always people would stop us on the street and ask where they could get a pair.”
Sisters Sarah Means (L) and Lizzie Means Duplantis (R) in Miron Crosby flagship Highland Park … [+]
That early market research sat idle for a while as Lizzie returned to Texas, married, started a family and launched a furniture rental business. Sarah followed back to Texas shortly after, but to pursue a law degree at Texas Tech University.
“Being the bossy older sister, I finally sat Sarah down to talk seriously about the cowboy boot idea. I sold my rental business and used that money to fund Miron Crosby,” Lizzie said.
Sarah added, “It was a crazy time. Lizzie was pregnant with her third child and I was in law school so I had to commute back and forth to the store on the weekends.”
That was in 2017 and Sarah completed her law degree in 2018. But practicing law wasn’t in the cards. She immediately went full time to work at Miron Crosby.
Timing Right
The sisters’ instincts proved right as “cowboy chic” became a thing with the premiere of Yellowstone in 2018. “People are thinking about the West more than they were before, which only helps our category. We’re of the belief that rising tides lift all ships, and the more exposure to western wear the better,” Lizzie said.
While the company offers off-the-shelf selections, it’s known for bespoke personalization – having one’s initials or special date sewn onto the boot’s ear pulls or having a handwritten note transcribed into the liner of the boot.
The website also offers a design-your-own app where a customer can design their boots from a variety of features, colors, materials and styles. And a custom concierge service is available in studio or by phone to walk the client through creating their custom boot from the sole up.
Customization takes a bit longer for delivery, but then, the wait is part of the brand’s authentic luxury.
Taking It To The Bank
Miron Crosby has enjoyed remarkable success. Year-to-date, sales are running nearly 50% over 2023 and it increased the number of new customers by 69% in that time. About two-thirds of revenue is generated at retail, with the remaining one-third from e-commerce.
Growth like can strain an entrepreneurial venture, especially as the company was opening a new store in Houston last year. They found themselves strapped for cash but instead of turning to the venture capital markets, which Lizzie with her background would have no trouble navigating, they went to the bank for a loan instead.
“It was an interesting time trying to figure out what to do,” Lizzie shared. “We put a deck together and entertained the notion, but at the 19th hour we secured a bank loan and we’ve worked past that now. We ultimately decided we didn’t want to go the VC route and kept it in the family.”
Not being a cognoscenti in cowboy-chic style, I asked how many cowboy boots a woman can own and Lizzie said, “You’d be surprised. You can wear them any where, from work to date night to a wedding and knocking around town. But you’ll want to change them up depending on the occasion.”
Miron Crosby’s data proves that point. Some 47% of sales are generated from repeat customers.
Kicking Up Their Heels
Marilyn Monroe famously said, “Give a girl the right shoes, and she can conquer the world.” Boots are even more empowering and with the right pair of cowboy boots, she’s ready to take on the universe, just ask English-actress Kelly Reilly, who plays Beth Dutton in the Yellowstone series.
Beth is truly a kiss-@ss character and how better to do that than in a pair of cowboy boots. And what professional woman doesn’t want a bit of Beth to rub off on her? I don’t mean the conniving, vengeful, brawling Beth, but to have some of her fearless strength and take-no-prisoners attitude.
That’s what Lizzie channeled in her Goldman Sachs days when she made cowboy boots part of her work uniform. Now she and her sister Sarah are giving women the chance to feel that same cowboy-boot power through Miron Crosby.
The pitching woes continued for Texas A&M in its 18-11 series-opening loss to Mississippi State at Blue Bell Park on Thursday night.
Typically, scoring 11 runs in an SEC contest equates to a win, but not for the Aggies. Jason Kelly’s pitching staff gave up the most runs in a single inning since Texas A&M joined the conference in 2012. To make matters worse, the loss was tied for the most runs allowed this season, which came in an 18-5 run-rule loss to Auburn on May 2.
Needless to say, the bullpen has much work to do moving forward. With postseason play right around the corner, it is make-or-break for the pitchers on the roster to step up and provide consistency on the mound for the Aggies. If Texas A&M drops the series to the Bulldogs on Friday, it will be the end of the team’s hopes of being a national seed.
The Aggies will aim to avoid dropping their third straight SEC series, as they face Mississippi State in Game 2 at Blue Bell Park on Friday. First pitch against the Bulldogs is scheduled for 4 p.m. CT and will be broadcast live on SEC Network+.
Here are some of the best social media reactions from Texas A&M’s loss to Mississippi State in Game 1:
Final score from Blue Bell Park
18 runs… yes, you read that correctly
Statistics from the series-opening loss
Mississippi State takes down No. 10 in Game 1
Texas A&M drops in the league standings
That one stings a little
Poor night for A&M on the mound
Kellner’s mask was a sight to see
A closer look at Kellner’s mask guarding his eye
Grahovac’s lead-off solo home run
Hacopian’s solo home run in the first
RPI update
Weston Moss slated to start in Game 2
The formula for success wasn’t there for the Aggies in the series opener
Frustrating night on the bump for Texas A&M
The Aggies must find an answer to the lack of consistent performances on the mound
Contact/Follow us @AggiesWire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Texas A&M news, notes and opinions. Follow Dylan on X: @dylanmflippo.
Texas A&M football and basketball may be in the quiet stretch of their calendars, but the offseason doesn’t mean the work slows down. This is the time for coaches to hit the road, meet with Aggie clubs, and lay out the vision for the months ahead. One of the first stops each summer is the Dallas Aggies Coaches Night.
Hosted annually by the Dallas A&M Club, the event brings together several Texas A&M head coaches. This year, first‑year basketball coach Bucky McMillan joined football coach Mike Elko. Before the program began, both coaches met with the media and offered updates on their teams. And while football naturally draws the biggest spotlight, McMillan delivered plenty of insight into his first year in Aggieland and the foundation he’s building.
Below are some of the most notable quotes from Coach Bucky’s appearance at Coaches Night.
Texas A&M head basketball coach Bucky McMillan speaks on attending his first Dallas A&M Club event
“We didn’t have a roster. We didn’t have any coaches… It was wild, but since then I have gotten to meet so many great people and so many I have made friends with.”
Coach Bucky McMillan on the support they team received
“We have great support, and you did it with a coach you didn’t know very well. We broke a lot of records last year… We broke 15 A&M records. We are going to break all those again next year. I was proud of our defense, as small as we were.”
Coach Bucky McMillan discusses what being in Aggieland has meant to him
“Aggies love Aggies and A&M. I am from SEC country in the middle of Alabama. I tell my friends, the honor and tradition of being an Aggie is something I don’t take lightly. The honor of the people, it’s truly awesome. It makes me proud to wear this on my shirt.”
Coach Bucky McMillan on Mike Elko
“The football coach has to deal with a lot more things than I do… We lose a game, and most of y’all know about it, but everybody knows if he loses a game.” “The one thing I know is there could not better coach for Texas A&M than Mike Elko.”
Coach Bucky McMillan on the 2026-27 basketball season
“We are going to take that next step. We were a game away from the Sweet 16 this year, and we are going to be in that second weekend next year, trying to get the Final Four.”
Here’s a look at the impact the Dallas A&M Club has had since its founding.
Established in 1902, the Dallas A&M Club has awarded hundreds of thousands of dollars in scholarships to Dallas-area students attending Texas A&M – with 29 Aggie fish and sophomores currently benefiting from our $6,000 scholarship awards.
As the chartered A&M Club for all of Dallas County, the DAMC has also generously given back to The Association of Former Students by contributing to the following: Aggie Park, Endowed Aggie Ring Scholarship (4), Endowed Diamond Century Club, Endowed Scholarship Fund, Corregidor Muster Memorial Fund, Building Enhancement Campaign, and The Association’s Annual Fund.
Contact/Follow us @AggiesWire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Texas A&M news, notes and opinions. Follow Jarrett Johnson on X: @whosnextsports1.
Texas is planning its grid around an unprecedented wave of AI-driven power demand that the state’s energy regulator says may not fully materialize on projected timelines.
In a recent filing to the Public Utility Commission of Texas, the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) projected statewide power demand could surge to nearly 368 GW by 2032 – more than four times the state’s current peak demand record of 85.5 GW. But the filing also contains an unusual warning from the grid operator itself.
“ERCOT has concerns with using the preliminary load forecast values for the Reliability Assessment and any other transmission and resource adequacy analysis,” the organization wrote in its April 2026 long-term load forecast filing.
The organization added that it may seek adjustments to the forecast based on “actual historical realization rates or other objective, credible, independent information.”
ERCOT has already begun adjusting for realization risk internally. In its 2025 long-term load forecast report, the grid operator said the “average peak consumption per site was 49.8% of the requested MW” and applied that factor to projected non-crypto data center load additions in some planning models.
ERCOT President and CEO Pablo Vegas said the forecast reflects “higher-than-expected future load growth” tied to changing large-load planning dynamics.
Texas has emerged as a hotspot for data center growth, with numerous new projects reshaping the energy market and challenging grid capacity. (Image: Alamy)
Texas Developers Race Ahead of Grid Capacity
Texas has emerged as a key data center market, driven by its abundant land, competitive energy prices, and favorable regulatory environment. This combination has positioned the state as a magnet for hyperscale operators and AI infrastructure investments. The state is estimated to account for around 15% of all data center connectivity in the US.
Recent and proposed AI data center campuses tied to OpenAI, Oracle, Meta, Crusoe, CoreWeave, Soluna, and other hyperscale operators are reshaping Texas grid planning. Developers have proposed large campuses across North Texas, Abilene, West Texas, and the Houston corridor, many requiring hundreds of megawatts of capacity and, in some cases, dedicated onsite generation to bypass interconnection delays. That buildout pushed ERCOT’s non-crypto data center forecast above 228 GW by 2032.
Developers are continuing to pursue Texas aggressively because ERCOT still offers faster timelines and more flexible market structures than many competing regions. Several proposed campuses pair AI infrastructure with onsite gas generation, colocated power assets, or flexible-load arrangements to navigate mounting transmission constraints.
Utilities across the US are grappling with AI-driven electricity growth, but ERCOT’s projections stand apart for both scale and uncertainty. PJM Interconnection, the nation’s largest grid operator, expects summer peak demand to climb above 241 GW over the next 15 years as data centers and electrification expand. ERCOT, by contrast, projects demand potentially reaching nearly 368 GW by 2032, driven largely by proposed non-crypto data center loads. At the same time, the grid operator openly questions how much of that demand will materialize on schedule.
Bigger Than Texas
Similar pressures are emerging elsewhere. In California, CAISO’s latest transmission plan cited “data center load growth” as a driver of major grid upgrades and described interconnection volumes as “unmanageable” before recent queue reforms.
A recent Grid Strategies report reached a similar conclusion nationally, warning that the “data center portion of utility load forecasts is likely overstated by roughly 25 GW” compared with market-based deployment estimates.
Ihab Osman, an independent strategist specializing in data center and other mission-critical infrastructure, said the distinction is less about “real” versus “fake” AI demand and more about “announced versus deliverable demand.”
“A large share of the current AI/data center planned load should be treated as paper megawatts until it is validated through physical gates,” Osman said, citing factors including site control, transmission deliverability, generation availability, turbine and transformer supply, permitting, financing, and credible energization schedules.
Osman said ERCOT’s forecast is best understood as “a stress-test map, not as a fait accompli build map.”
Separating ’Paper Megawatts’ From Real Demand
The filing shows Texas regulators and grid planners struggling to distinguish operating AI infrastructure from a rapidly expanding pipeline of proposed projects.
“The vast majority” of ERCOT’s projected load growth comes from submissions provided by transmission and distribution utilities, according to the filing. Those requests include hyperscale AI campuses, GPU clusters, and other large industrial loads seeking future grid capacity reservations.
Alison Silverstein, a former senior adviser to the chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, said “a large proportion” of projects in ERCOT’s large-load interconnection queue have already been canceled, particularly among smaller developers facing long interconnection delays and high turbine and transformer costs.
Forecasts Collide With Physical Infrastructure Limits
ERCOT has also signaled that many projects may not materialize on the timelines shaping transmission planning.
The grid operator said summer 2026 peak demand is likely to land between roughly 90.5 GW and 98 GW – far below the preliminary 112 GW figure embedded in the long-term forecast. ERCOT said it appears “unlikely” that new large-load projects and existing site expansions will ramp quickly enough to push demand that high this year.
The filing suggests uncertainty around AI-related load growth is beginning to influence broader infrastructure planning assumptions. By 2032, ERCOT projects non-crypto data centers reaching 228 GW of demand, compared with just 9 GW from cryptocurrency mining and roughly 3 GW each from hydrogen/e-fuels and oil-and-gas-related industrial growth.
The move also suggests the regulator is no longer simply forecasting AI-driven growth, but also working to determine how much of the proposed boom can actually be financed, supplied, interconnected, and energized before utilities commit billions to long-lived infrastructure.
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