Uber models Kate Upton and Chrissy Teigen were among the VIP’s on the red carpet at Friday night’s VIBES by Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Fest, which was held outdoors on the grounds of downtown’s Post HTX.
Joining Upton, who is featured on three different covers of the 2017 edition, and eight-time SI Swimsuit model and Cravings cookbook author Teigen were fellow SI Swim models, including legendary supermodel Christie Brinkley and her daughter Sailor Brinkley Cook, Olympic gold medalist Aly Raisman, Mia Kang, Bojana Krsmanovic, Kelly Gale, SI Swim rookie of the year Bianca Balti, Lais Ribeiro, and Danielle Herrington.
The first-of-its-kind music/food/swimsuit event, hosted by Sports Illustrated, celebrates the popular sport magazine’s 2017 swimsuit issue with a two-day affair.
Just beyond the red carpet was a lineup of restaurant booths serving up bites by top chefs: Chris Shepherd (Underbelly), Hugh Acheson (Five & Ten, The National), Graham Elliot (Graham Elliot Bistro), Terrence Gallivan and Seth Siegel Gardner (The Pass & Provisions), and Tyson Cole (Uchi, UchiKo).
During the culinary portion of the evening, several models including Robyn Lawley, Christie Brinkley and Sailor Brinkley Cook, mingled and posed for selfies with guests. Although the event drew a nice-sized crowd, more male than female, there was plenty of elbow space in the large outdoor area.
Also mixing with guests were Teigen and her husband, Grammy Award winner John Legend. He skipped the red carpet, but joined Teigen a little later in the night.
Although Teigen was photo shy during her last trip to Houston for Super Bowl LI, refusing to take photos at the Bruno Mars LIFEWTR/Pepsico Super Bowl party, she was back to her press-friendly self Friday, laughing and posing for the media, and with guests. The jovial model joked with reporters that she was more “tired from the Downtown Aquarium,” which she visited earlier in the day, than from all the press. Teigen posted the Instagram photo below with her daughter at the Aquarium.
The famous couple walked from food booth to food booth, sampling all the dishes and greeting every chef. Teigen also had her own booth, where her original Frito Pie recipe was served.
R&B sensation Miguel took the stage at 8:30 pm and performed an hour and a half set of his hits, including, “Coffee,” “Adorn, “Do You…,” “Sure Thing,” and ”How Many Drinks.” His smooth performance enticed the crowd into requesting an encore, which the singer obliged, closing out the night with “Come Through and Chill.”
Also strutting their stuff at the festival were former cover models Nina Agdal, Hailey Clauson, Hannah Jeter, and Ashley Graham.
The festival lineup continued Saturday night with local Houston musicians, followed by headliner Diplo.
SI Swimsuit model Kelly Gale at the VIBES by Sports Illustrated Swimsuit 2017 launch festival.
