Homespun
Fashionista has designs on Denver and helping youths
By Emilie Rusch The Denver Post
Sitting in her modern, angular showroom at the Denver Art Museum Residences, Jackie Paul
cuts a cool, casual look.
In cuffed, distressed jeans, white T-shirt with sheer back panel and gold flat sandals, she
browses the racks of flowy maxis and collared blouses, printed pants, short shorts and crop tops.
She pulls a taupe jacket of vegan leather and knit and a loose red tee with a cut-out back to
illustrate a point.
It’s all about quality and details, she said — basics “with a little flair.”
“For work and for my day-to-day, I’m not in a pair of 5-inch heels,” Paul said. “But I still like
to be on trend.”
The same attitude — fashion-forward, yet functional — guides her business, a Denver-based
online boutique with a coast-to-coast following.
Paul is the chief buyer and owner of Pure Addiction, which celebrates its fifth anniversary this
year. She is also the mother of two and wife of NBA player Jason Richardson, whose 13-year
professional career has taken him from the Bay Area to Charlotte, N.C.; Phoenix; Orlando; and
now, Philadelphia, with the 76ers.
Denver, though, is the place they call home. For the second year in a row, Pure Addiction is
among the local boutiques and designers presenting on the runway of Urban Nights, an outdoor
fashion show Aug. 1 to benefit Urban Peak.
In 2013, the fashion event, held under the Colfax Avenue viaduct at Mile High Station, raised
more than $150,000 for homeless youths.
Paul said she would love to see even more collaboration among the local fashion community
— herself included.
“For us, personally, a sense of community is a big deal,” Paul said. “I enjoy having my work
here. There is a market here.”
The Denver Post
Pure Addiction was born in 2009, right around the time Paul and her family put down roots in Urban Nights
Denver.
July 17, 2014
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Prices for women’s clothes, shoes and accessories on the website range from $15 to $300, with
most items under $200. Many of the brands she sells are based in Los Angeles, with a breezy
West Coast feel.
With the exception of some L.A. photo shoots and promotional events, though, Pure Addiction
is wholly based in Denver — including its showroom in the Golden Triangle.
Paul is constantly on the hunt for high-quality, on-trend pieces that are affordable and can
transition from season to season.
Maybe it’s the practical side of her. (In college, she studied not fashion but
electrical engineering and applied math.)
“It’s an investment — all of this stuff is an investment — and not everyone has money to
blow,” Paul said. “It’s about offering longevity.”
Paul describes her own style as “eclectic”: high-end and high-fashion, at times, but also
comfortable and casual. She owns designer bags and shoes, but also wears what she sells.
In running the business, she has a hands-on role. She operates the website with the help of one
web developer, receiving customer-service e-mails and sometimes even formatting product shots
herself. At night, she might be thumbing through line sheets looking for next season’s “it” items.
Before she launched Pure Addiction, Paul considered a brick-and-mortar store. Ultimately, the
e-commerce route was right for her, she said.
“I like color. I like clothes. I like design,” Paul said. “This allowed me to do that but still be a
mom because (my kids) come first, especially with Jason’s schedule. I like to be able to drop
them off. I like to be able to pick them up. I like to have the flexibility to attend whatever they
need to attend.”
That includes coaching her oldest son’s basketball team year-round, as well as commuting with
both boys, now 6 and 8, to and from Philadelpia for Richardson’s schedule. She also travels for
business to trade shows and events.
Paul said she doesn’t mind the hectic schedule, because it’s Denver, not L.A. or Philadelphia,
where they want to raise their kids. Paul grew up in Colorado, graduating from Boulder High
School and the University of Colorado-Denver.
At the time of their move to Denver, her husband had just been traded across the country for
the second time in less than two years
— the first from Golden State to Charlotte when Paul was 7½ months pregnant with their
second child, and again from Charlotte to Phoenix right after his first birthday.
The Denver Post
Urban Nights
July 17, 2014
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Paul was ready for a permanent home. Denver was where her mom lived and a short flight from
Phoenix to boot.
(Richardson, who began his NBA career in 2001, sat out last season to recover from knee
surgery and is in the final year of his contract with the 76ers.)
“We’re here permanently. We’re done,” Paul said. “Our home base — we’re here.”
Getting involved with Urban Nights made sense professionally and personally, Paul said. Both
she and her husband are passionate about education and youth issues.
“A lot of these kids are born into situations they have no control over,” Paul said. “Once we
really got into what the mission was, personally we wanted to give, as well.”
In 2013, the event’s first year, Paul not only showed Pure Addiction looks on the runway, she
was also a lead sponsor of the event, said Justin Joseph, Urban Nights co-chair and member of
the Joseph Family Foundation, which underwrites the event.
“She was phenomenal,” Joseph said. “You could tell she’s trying not only to run a successful
business but to be philanthropically minded, too.”
Plus, he said, “her clothes really are spectacular.”
All money raised at Urban Nights goes to Urban Peak and programs for homeless youths.
L’Erin Stortz, general manager of Matthew Morris Salon, another sponsor of Urban Nights and
a frequent collaborator with Paul, said Denver is lucky to have a brand like Pure Addiction call
the city home.
Paul’s trunk shows, hosted on the rooftop garden of the Museum Residences, are events people
look forward to, she said.
“You only find her here and L.A.,” Stortz said. “To put us on the map with L.A.
— it’s not New York and L.A., it’s here and L.A. — that’s great.”
Emilie Rusch: 303-954-2457, erusch@denverpost.com or twitter.com/emilierusch The Denver Post
Urban Nights
July 17, 2014
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Paul wears a Blaque Label Leather Lapel Blazer, $189, and a Vogue Muscle tee from her Pure
Addiction line. It is one of the presenters at Urban Nights, a fashion show Aug. 1 to benefit
Urban Peak. Photos: Cyrus McCrimmon, The Denver Post
The Denver Post
Urban Nights
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Jackie Paul wears her Lovers & Friends Weekender Tee, $68, Aryn K. Graffiti Pants, $98, and
Gehati Leather Wrap Bracelet, $75, on the rooftop of the Denver Art Museum Residences.
The Denver Post
Urban Nights
July 17, 2014
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Urban Nights
Mondo Guerra, left, the Denver designer who came to fame on “Project Runway,” will headline
the second annual Urban Nights fashion show Aug. 1. The show benefits Urban Peak, a local
nonprofit that provides support to homeless youth. Among the other local designers and
boutiques walking the runway this year:
Goldyn Multiblazer Baskit 50 Dresses by
Tess Vigil Gabriela Martinez Andreas Tsagas
Furs & Leather Soignee Infatue Clothing Pure Addiction Pink’s L.A. Infernal
Contraptions Apparel by Karen Holloway Steadbrook
Tickets are $75-$125 for general admission and cash bar; $250 for VIP early arrival and hosted
bar; patron tables are $2,500.
Mile High Station, 2027 Lower Colfax Ave. urbannightsdenver.org The Denver Post
Urban Nights
July 17, 2014
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