When Carlos Souza discovered that his good friend, Lynn Wyatt, was hosting a benefit cocktail party at the Valentino Galleria boutique, he hopped on a plane to be in Houston for the event. Souza had been Valentino's right hand man for more than 20 years but left after the designer's farewell couture show in January 2008.
The famed Italian house has floundered after its founder retired, so in an attempt to recapture that Valentino magic, new owners recently brought Souza back to head up public relations in the United States and installed longtime Valentino accessories designers Maria Grazia Chuiuri and Pier Paolo Piccioli as designers for the haute couture and ready-to-wear collections.
It was a hot time in Houston as Souza gathered with Wyatt and friends (including Susie and Sanford Criner, Patty Hubbard, Cynthia Petrello, Courtney Sarofim, Diane Lokey Farb, Marcy Taub Wessel and Tom Wessel), at the store, lavishly decorated with candleabra and flickering candles throughout the sales area.
A portion of sales went to the film program at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. Wyatt is a founding member of the film program and she's also a pretty good sales lady, too. She wore a red cashmere and lace Valentino shawl that several ladies bought after seeing her in it. (Raised a Sakowitz, retail must remain in her blood.)
Afterwards, Wyatt hosted a small dinner party for Souza at her River Oaks home, where many of the women wore Valentino in tribute to the designer.
"It's timeless," Wyatt said.
