Blockbuster fashion

Blockbuster fashion exhibition saluting Oscar de la Renta is headed to Houston

The work of one of America's greatest fashion designers will be front and center this fall in a major retrospective at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. The Glamour and Romance of Oscar de la Renta, which opens October 8, will celebrate the life and six-decade career of the famed fashion designer, featuring 90 ensembles, including chic daywear as well as spectacular evening and bridal gowns he was known for.

The exhibition, curated by noted fashion writer André Leon Talley, a close friend of the designer, will draw from de la Renta's corporate and personal archives, as well as the archives of the French label Pierre Balmain, where de la Renta served as chief designer between 1993 and 2002; private lenders; and the MFAH costume collection.

The historic overview highlights such varied influences on de la Renta's work as Spanish flamenco dancers, Russian literature, and his beloved Connecticut garden as well as his role as the go-to designer for many of the most influential and celebrated personalities of the 20th and 21st centuries, including former first ladies Hillary Clinton, Nancy Reagan, and Laura Bush, and a host of Hollywood stars and society titans.

Talley, who has authored Oscar de la Renta: His Legendary World of Style, previously was involved in exhibitions at the Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) in 2015 and at the de Young Museum in San Francisco last year highlighting de la Renta's illustrious career. Organizers say the Houston exhibition will be different as Talley is working with Cindi Strauss, the MFAH Sara and Bill Morgan Curator of Decorative Arts, Craft and Design, and fashion historians Molly Sorkin and Jennifer Park, as well as officials at Oscar de la Renta LLC to present a unique perspective on the designer, who died in 2014.

“He was the ultimate romantic, and every dress made a woman feel the most beautiful she could ever possibly feel,” Talley told Vanity Fair magazine before the de Young show debuted. "And for those who knew him, you [also] wore him because you loved him.”

The exhibition will also serve as the theme for the museum's annual Grand Gala Ball on October 6. De la Renta's daughter, Eliza Bolen, and her husband, Oscar de la Renta CEO Alex Bolen, are expected to attend, along with the label's new designers, Laura Kim and Fernando Garcia.

The exhibition will run through January 28, 2018, in the museum's Audrey Jones Beck Building.

Oscar de la Renta's daughter, Eliza Bolen, is expected to attend the opening of the retrospective to her father at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston.

Eliza Bolen at Bayou Bend Oscar de la Renta

Photo by Jenny Antill Clifton

Oscar de la Renta's daughter, Eliza Bolen, is expected to attend the opening of the retrospective to her father at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston.

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Whatashirt

Whataburger partners with Texas activewear brand for new capsule collection

Burlebo Whataburger Father's Day collection

Photo courtesy of Burlebo.

Austin-based Burlebo has teamed up with Whataburger on a Father's Day capsule collection.

Other fast food chains might take note. While it’s difficult to imagine anyone decked out in Golden Arches, San Antonio-based Whataburger is now a fully fledged lifestyle brand. And it’s tapped into some synergy with its latest drop — a capsule collection with cult Austin activewear company Burlebo arriving in time for Father’s Day.

According to a news release, Whataburger’s latest collab will be available starting Thursday, May 29, through Burlebo’s website and the company’s online Whatastore. The line includes caps, infant onesies, and tops available in three prints, including a Gucci-style logo grid, a playful Western pattern, and the apparel company’s signature deer camo.

Burlebo Whataburger Father's Day collection The hoodie sports Burlebo's signature deer camo print.Photo courtesy of Burlebo.

Burlebo audaciously introduced the collection in a May 28 Instagram Reel, draping one of Whataburger’s iconic A-frame buildings in camo cloth a la Christo and Jeanne-Claude. A bright orange helicopter swooped down to reveal the store and the team-up.

Although the Texas-based Harmon Dobson family sold its majority stake to Chicago-based investment company BDT Capital in 2019, Whataburger has kept true to its Lone Star roots. The chain’s headquarters remains in San Antonio, and it frequently partners with the state’s most recognizable brands like Igloo, James Avery, Jon Hart, Texas Standard, and Yeti. There’s even a crossover with the San Antonio Spurs.

Burlebo has vaulted to that list of household names. Founded in 2015 by Trey and Lexi Weir, the label quickly carved out a niche in the performance wear space by tapping into Texas’ rugged outdoor culture.

Burlebo Whataburger Father's Day collection The button-up has a Western theme.Photo courtesy of Burlebo.

Should families want to go all-out on a Whataburger-themed Father’s Day, they can hightail it to the nearest location. The busy chain also announced the limited-time return of the Pico de Gallo Burger on June 3. The fan favorite, topped with pepper jack cheese, pico de gallo, and cilantro-lime sauce, is part of a year-long series of menu comebacks in celebration of the burger joint’s 75th anniversary.

So far, Whataburger hasn’t produced its own line of wrapping paper. Still, industrious gift-givers might consider asking an employee if they can swipe a few sheets of the sandwich wrappers to cover the Burlebo box.

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