Sarah-Allen Preston, principal designer and owner of Preston Paper, has earned national recognition with her modern and chic ready-to-write collection, which originated from sketches in the margins of her college notebooks. In addition to an Art History degree from Southern Methodist University in Dallas, she studied drawing and painting at Parsons School of Design in Paris. Sarah-Allen’s always stylish and sophisticated designs reflect her artistic sensibility and diverse personal experiences. As an article in Dallas’s PaperCity magazine put it, “She paints, she draws, and she knows the difference between Demeulemeester and Dior!”
Sarah-Allen’s appreciation of art and the world of high style developed from her prep-school upbringing in Kansas City and summers back east. Traveling for horseshows and family vacations opened her eyes and interest in classic, haute-style that she saw across the country. Her eye for fashion has long been envied, but it was the summer spent in Paris at Parsons that enabled her to combine her talent with training. “Spending that summer in Paris really gave me a sense of what I could do with my art. It is the duty of any artist to represent the world as she sees it--as an ideal. Light-hearted, beautiful, happy, and fashionable is the world I live in! It is how I was raised, and I want to share that with others.” This lifestyle is certainly reflected in her products: smart and stylish.
Sarah-Allen started her business in Dallas, but now works out of modern, bright, comfortable and colorful studio in Kansas City. It is there that this 20-something businesswoman is meticulously drawing her designs by hand and working daily to bring her sense of style to the world of upscale stationery.
