The Sexy Party!

Amy Johnston, Vivian Weiss

Patrick Vo, Anthony Shane

In what was surely the best party of the sultry summer social season, the city’s original Hotel ZaZa in the Museum District joined with Veuve Clicquot last week to celebrate Houston CityBook’s “Sexy Issue.” It was called The Sexy Party.


A crowd of about 300 gathered poolside to pick up their copies of the mag, sip only-the-best bubbly and take in the red-hot swim/lingerie fashion show everybody’s buzzing about. A buff and tatted DJ spun overhead, from a balcony overlooking the scene, which was fragrant with chic, low-slung, all-white florals by Lexis Florist.

Produced by fashion pro Todd Ramos and featuring a slew of models signed with event co-host Page Parkes, the runway show wrapped around the mood-lit pool and touted European styles. The show highlighted sophisticated, unabashedly racy women’s looks from “in” boutique Maison Jolie, a CityBook partner and also a co-host of the bash.

Jewelers Bella Madre and Christina Greene, and milliner Gabriela Dror, also provided pieces for gals. Men’s apparel — ranging from resort-ready and dapper to, at times, scandalously scant — sampled looks from M Penner, Manready Mercantile, Guyz N Style and Target. J&S Audio Visual and Impressive Events graciously lent production support, featuring the latest in French sound tech by Devialet from Iconic Systems.

Guests included Heart of Fashion founder Vivian Wise, philanthropist and fashion and lifestyle blogger Beth Muecke, CultureMap editor Steven Devadanam, and international soccer star Brian Ching, whose ballyhooed new Pitch 25 Beer Park opened for business the next day in EaDo.

Party People

David Ansell, Bennie Flores Ansell, Thuy Tran and James Tiebout

THE ROTHKO CHAPEL held its Inspirit fundraiser — a celebration of the power of art and activism — at the industrial-chic Astorian. The evening featured cocktails, hors d’oeuvres, and an onstage conversation with actor Cheech Marin, one of the world’s foremost collectors of Chicano art; 2023 Art League of Houston Texas Artist of the Year Vincent Valdez; and legendary civil rights advocate Dolores Huerta, who co-founded the United Farm Workers of America with César Chávez. (She’s 93, by the way!)

Keep Reading Show less
Art + Entertainment

Cheech Marin reflecting outside of The Cheech (photo by David Fouts)

WHEN YOU TALK to Los Angeles-born actor Cheech Marin, regardless of how serious the subject, you can’t help but smile. His pop-culture presence is infused with an astute awareness of politics and history, and a “can do, make do, find a way to move ahead” spirit he connects to the word “Chicano,” a derogatory term that came to signify resilience, creative thinking, and social consciousness. “My dad, who died at age 93, always described himself as a Chicano, because it described him,” says Marin.

Keep Reading Show less
Art + Entertainment