It was a wonderful night of fashion trends and adorable animals for the Salute Houston Benefit Fashion Show!
Kristen here, to report to you my most memorable evening at The Astorian where I was able to fill in for Roz who was out of the country. In support of Hurricane Harvey, the fashion community came together as more than 200 of Houston’s fashion savviest crowd took over the venue to raise more than $26,000 along with their partnering sponsor, The Texas Legacy Foundation who will distribute the proceeds to Houston Pet Set, Houston Children’s Charity, and The 100 Club. Our town’s dynamic fashion show producers, Lenny Matuszewski and Tamara Klosz Bonar put on a fabulous show, Salute Houston, uniting a cast of fashion and event related businesses and individuals to create a completely 100% underwritten evening. Many of Houston’s finest local retailers – Tootsies, Cotton Club, Sloan Hall, M. Penner, Elizabeth Anthony, and Cavendar’s Boot City participated in the fashion runway event.
The Astorian opened up its doors to showcase its beautiful skyline view. Once I arrived to the cocktail hour before the show, a woman in a red dress and headdress immediately greeted me! It was so perfect for the fashion show and coordinated so well with Tootsie’s style presentation, which was all about RED. There was a fabulous open bar and trays of delicious hors d’euvres all donated by Cordua Catering.
Tina Lindquist Foust and Tama Lindquist with Sonny the pit bull
Upon attending the fashion show, I was so excited to see the styling of all of the fashion attendees. It was truly quite a fashion show even amongst the guests! There was a mix of men in suits, women in the latest fall trends – including mostly pants in array of styles, and included men in over the knee boots!
Derek Fladung and Daniel Cartwright, Houston Pet Set
Before the show started, I had a chance to meet a few attendees such as Board Members of Houston Pet Set, Daniel Cartwright and Derek Fladung. The fashion show featured several animals ready for adoption from Houston Pet Set and from K9- Angels. Sonny, the pit bull, along with the Lindquist twins, greeted me. I also had the pleasure of meeting Shannon Hall of Sloan Hall and Patrick Roswell. Sloan Hall was one of the retailers in the fashion show!
Shannon Hall of Sloan Hall and Patrick Roswell
Beloved, Melanie Lawson, award winning journalist and ABC-13 anchor, served as Mistress of Ceremonies stating “Tonight is a time for Fashion and Compassion to come together – to salute the strength and resilience of our community – to honor our Houston heroes and to show love to our neighbors who need our support.” Melanie opened the show presenting Micaiah Walker, who gave a terrific performance honoring those affected by Harvey with his song, “Eye of The Storm.” The show then kicked off with Tootsies style presentation of their top picks for fall with all of the models showing off an outfit in RED – none other than our favorite color! Red is this year’s fall color and they couldn’t have chosen a better color to rock the runway. From red dresses to pantsuits to plaid, we saw the Tootsies models “strut their stuff” in their latest fashions. Next, was the style presentation by Cotton Club. Cotton Club models were shown in mainly black and white giving off a crisp vibe for fall.
Sloan Hall dazzled the runway by showing the most eclectic trends of the season consisting of beautiful printed dresses and even more red! Elizabeth Anthony was next and I saw some of the most gorgeous gowns I had seen all season long! The gowns featured were in a variety of jewel tones and would be sure to have you ready for your next Black Tie event! M.Penner was next to show off their latest fall styles on the runway. It was a pleasant change to see some men’s fashions particularly in outwear.
Honored for the evening were several of Houston’s Firefighters and members of the Houston Police Department that each brought a dog or cat along with them from K-9 Angels and Houston Pet Set along with them. They were truly the highlight of the show and received the largest standing ovation from the fashion audience. These were the animals I had seen earlier that were open for adoption. Oh, how I wish I could have taken one home with me!
The show closed with models, in Cavendars, that led the grand finale of models from Page Parkes and the Neal Hamil Agency and other show participants carrying Houston Astros World Series pennants to the cheers of the audience and another standing ovation. It was truly such an incredible event and made me proud to support those who were affected by Hurricane Harvey in August. It really is amazing how the community has come together for events like these benefiting our city!
It was truly such an incredible event and made me proud to support those who were affected by Hurricane Harvey in August. It really is amazing how the community has come together for events like these benefiting our city! With everyone donating their time and their talents to this event, every dollar from ticket sales and donations will be shared among the three charities.
Tamara Klosz Bonar Lenny Matuszewski
Photos courtesy of Kristen Byrd and Tamara Klosz Bonar