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.

André Leon Talley, pictured here with Vogue editor Anna Wintour, is curating the Oscar de la Renta exhibition in Houston.

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be well

3 hot wellness studios move swiftly into new Heights development

Courtesy of Radom Capital

The Swift BLDG is expected to open in late 2026.

A new mixed-use development in the Heights has announced its next round of tenants. Three wellness businesses are coming to The Swift BLDG, Houston developers Radom Capital and Triten Real Estate Partners’ project in the historic Swift & Company Packing Plant that’s located near the Heights Hike & Bike Trail.

They are:

SweatHouz, a contrast therapy studio
Strong Pilates Studio
The Skin Clinic, a Houston-based aesthetics and skincare destination

Scheduled to open in winter 2026, SweatHouz will offer infrared saunas, cold plunges, and other protocols to improve a person’s well-being. The protocols are focused on areas such as athletic recovery, reducing stress, improving circulation, mental health, and longevity. In addition, it will offer a beauty bar equipped with Dyson hot tolls and a beverage station stocked with different waters.

Building on the success of its Katy location that opened last year, Strong Pilates Studio will occupy 2,500 square feet in the Swift BLDG. Using Rowformer and Bikeformer machines, customers have the opportunity to take classes in Strong Body, Strong Loaded, and Strong Pilates-Only. It’s expected to open in the fall.

“Our method blends strength, cardio, and reformer-based training into one, delivering real results in just 45 minutes. This isn’t just Pilates — it’s a new standard for fitness in Houston. And a community that sweats together stays strong,” franchisee Mona Hussein-Zaki said in a statement.

Currently located in M-K-T, the Skin Clinic will more than double its footprint by relocated to the Swift BLDG. The clinic’s services focus on skin health and rejuvenation. It also expected to open in the fall.

“The response from this community has been incredible, and Swift gives us the room to grow into what our patients have been asking for: more space, more services, and the same patient-centered care that got us here." founder Kelli Nwuli said.

All three businesses join previously announced tenants such as Van Leeuwen Ice Cream, premium juice bar Leemoo, Merit Coffee, and Houston Tex-Mex staple Escalante’s.

On track to open to the public in fall 2026, The Swift BLDG will offer more than 30,000 square feet of office space along with 30,000 square feet of restaurant and retail tenants. The two companies previously partnered on M-K-T, the Heights mixed-use development that’s near the Swift project. Radom is known for a number of other Houston developments, including the Montrose Collective and the historic Tower Theater property and its adjacent buildings.

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