Mag’s Annual ‘Sexy Issue’ Arriving Now, Features Real-Life Couple in Steamy Shoot

Mag’s Annual ‘Sexy Issue’ Arriving Now, Features Real-Life Couple in Steamy Shoot

FOR THE SEVENTH time, Houston CityBook is heating up the dog days of summer with its annual Sexy Issue, hitting newsstands and mailboxes all over Houston now.


With a special partnership with presenting sponsor Indigo Auto Group, the new issue features a roundup of hot shops, restaurant and current cultural events, as well as the cover story — a racy fashion shoot, per the custom.

The revealing fashion spread, shot on location as Hotel ZaZa in the Museum District, for the first time features a real-life couple as models. Highly in-demand model Valen Custer recruited her fiancé, Brazilian hunk Vitor Villar, to join her in front of the camera. Shot by photographer Steven Visneau and styled by Todd Ramos, the story highlights stylish lingerie, underwear, swimwear and a preview of fall looks.

“Don’t blame me if the fashion images are a little extra spicy this year,” Editor-in-Chief Jeff Gremillion half-jokes. “Our models were terrific pros, up for anything, and they couldn’t keep their hands off each other!”

CityBook Creative Director Patrick Magee oversaw the project. Edward Sanchez, a frequent collaborator with the magazine, returned to run hair and makeup.

The issue also includes Managing Editor Evan W. Black’s report on the ups and downs of the Houston real estate market, with special attention to timely trends, including the increasing popularity to homes with built-in generators. Mid-Summer travel pieces — an ultra-luxurious resort in The Maldives and remote boutique getway in Costa Rica — are also on offer.

At the end of summer, CityBook’s Sexy Party, promoting the Sexy Issue, will return.


2017 Sexy Issue cover photographed by Steven Visneau at a private home in Memorial

2018 Sexy Issue cover photographed by Steven Visneau at the most expensive home on the market in Houston at the time

2019 Sexy Issue cover photographed by Steven Visneau at a private home in Memorial

2021 Sexy Issue cover photographed by Steven Visneau at Heights House Hotel

2022 Sexy Issue cover photographed by Jhane Hoang at Four Seasons Hotel New Orleans

2023 Sexy Issue cover photographed by Steven Visneau at La Cantera Resort & Spa in San Antonio

Style

Leah Lax

A PANICKED MOTHER traveling by foot from El Salvador to reach the U.S.-Mexico border rubs crushed garlic cloves on her skin to ward off the cottonmouth snakes crawling over her legs. A group of half-starved teenage Vietnamese refugees on a boat they hoped would ferry them to safety huddle together as pirates board and steal all their possessions. At a UN Refugee Office, a father of six and a member of the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (a minority ethnic group based in southern Nigeria) whose leadership had been executed by a corrupt Nigerian government, is granted emergency refugee status. The interviewer reaches into her pocket and hands him money to smuggle his family out of Nigeria.

Keep Reading Show less
Art + Entertainment

Lobster Bene at PostScript

THERE’S STILL TIME to reserve for Sunday, March 31. Whether brunching with kids in tow or you’re in it for the mimosas — or craving prime rib, smoked salmon and seasonal strawberry desserts served on a silver platter — H-Town has the Easter treat for every bunny.

Keep Reading Show less
Food