Fashion on the Farm!

Cynthia Petrello & Gracie Cavnar
Cynthia Petrello & Gracie Cavnar

Recipe for Success’ second annual Fashion in the Fields event was a smash success, raising more than $150,000 for the foundation, whose mission is to teach and inspire healthy eating.


Founder and CEO Gracie Cavnar welcomed more than 200 supporters — dressed in casual-cool, farm-fab attire — to the organization’s Hope Farms facility. Waiters greeted with trays of lemonade, mimosas and Bloody Marys, and folks happily sipped and shopped a pop-up boutique featuring vendors like Mary Patton Designs, Tata Harper cosmetics and more.

Fashion in the Fields took place on Veteran’s Day, so it was fitting that the main event — a fashion show featuring the season’s chicest looks from Neiman Marcus — kicked off with a salute to Hope Farms’ 2019 Warriors to Farmers Veterans class. All prior-service military service members, the four farmers-in-training will, through the foundation’s year-long program, learn to operate their own urban farm and help solve problems of food inequity in Houston and beyond. After the trainees strutted their stuff, other models — along with adorable kiddos of donors and supporters! — took to the catwalk in outfits full of seasonal sparkle and fantastic fur.

After the show, a southern-fried brunch buffet beckoned, and an exciting raffle included items like a Farbergé scarf and pocket square, and a seasonal Hope Farms produce share.

Christine Falgout-Gutknecht, Melissa Juneau & Jordan Holman
Dispatches
Leadership in Action: John Kuykendall Traded Newcaster Dream for Success in Luxury Retail

John Kuykendall, Showroom Manager, Sub-Zero, Wolf and Cove

How did you get to where you are today? Growing up I had envisioned myself as a news anchor, living in NY and enthusiastically saying into the camera “Good Morning America!”. To this day, I am still a news/political junkie. My mother owned fur salons so specialty retail, luxury retail was in my blood through the family business. Eventually, mom shuttered the stores and I was recruited to a large specialty retailer. Over the next 30 years, I was in commissioned sales on the sales floor, became a department manager, worked my way up to buyer and store manager. Although I never became a newscaster, I did live in NYC for a few years. But Texas is home and with aging grandparents, I felt the pull to come back to my roots. A headhunter approached me. I never envisioned myself in the high-end appliance market, but there are so many similarities. Clients want a memorable experience; whether shopping for diamonds and fur or remodeling their kitchen.

Keep Reading Show less

THE CORINTHIAN WAS the scene for a haunted happening benefiting Children’s Museum Houston. The decidedly adult bash was filled with dark allure, gothic glamour, and generosity to the tune of $1.14 million, the second-highest total in the event’s history.

Keep Reading Show less
Parties

Morris Smith, Tilman Fertitta and Toni Smith

THE HOUSTON CHILDREN'S Charity gala is always anticipated, thanks to the big-deal musical acts brought in to entertain; this year it was Chicago. But the headliners this year were the generous donors, who seemed to surprise even event organizer with their largesse, with a total till of $6.2 million, a record.

Keep Reading Show less
Party People