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    Shelby About Town

    Dominique Sachse's engagement portrait, lunching at Tootsies & George Clooney'snot the only hot item

    Shelby Hodge
    Apr 27, 2012 | 2:50 pm
    • The engagement photo: Nick Florescu and Dominique Sachse make one beautifulcouple.
      Photo by Al Torres Photography
    • Monique Lhuillier fashions informally modeled at Tootsies reunion luncheon forLhuillier fans.
      Photo by Roswitha Vogler/Photosbyrovo.com
    • Tiffany Smith and Travis Cal at Tootsies luncheon.
      Photo by Roswitha Vogler/Photosbyrovo.com
    • Dana Tyson, from left, Nelda Blair, Brenda Mizell and Marcia Pratts at Habitatfor Humanity gala.
      Photo by Daniel Ortiz Photography
    • Hostesses at the Tootsies luncheon Melissa Mithoff, left, and Debbie Festari.
      Photo by Roswitha Vogler/Photosbyrovo.com
    • Sabiha Rehmatulla, left, and Estela Cockrell at Tootsies.
      Photo by Roswitha Vogler/Photosbyrovo.com
    • Jennifer Brown, from left, Suzette Betts and Diane Lokey Farb at Tootsies.
      Photo by Roswitha Vogler/Photosbyrovo.com

    Pretty people! That would be the glam couple of the spring — Dominique Sachse and Nick Florescu — headed to the altar in just a few weeks. In advance of their wedding, the couple, both with movie star good looks, have released their official engagement portrait.

    Has there ever been a more beautiful bride-to-be than this news anchor for KPRC Channel 2?

    Photographer Al Torres captured the love story with his lens, photographing the couple at their River Oaks home. Her dress is from a boutique near Antibes in the South of France.

     Girls having fun

    When Mickey Rosmarin started planning Tootsies for the new West Ave location, he did a very wise thing. He incorporated a party room into the design, one that would serve as a gathering place for ladies luncheons, for cocktail parties and for informal modeling events.

    On Thursday, all three elements were combined when four fashion-forward gals hosted a luncheon previewing Monique Lhuillier's fall collection. Joyce Echols, Debbie Festari, Melissa Mithoff and Elizabeth Petersen had been front and center at Lhuillier's show in New York during Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week and the foursome had such a good time at the various shows, that when the chance came to relive their Lhuillier partying, they chorused "Bien sur!"

    CultureMap editor-in-chief Clifford Pugh, who had been in NYC to cover fashion week, partied there with the ladies and he was tops on their guest list.

    The Tootsies team put together a delicious champagne reception, seated lunch and informal modeling for close to 30. Swooning over the amazing creations were chief fashionista Diane Lokey Farb, Tiffany Smith (still thinking fashion only hours before hubby Houston Texans general manager Rick Smith picked up the phone in the NFL draft), Raquel Segal counting the weeks before heading to LA for the summer and the fashion savvy Neal Hamil, still chatting about the I Am Waters luncheon the day before.

     George Clooney and hot auction items

    When George Clooney lends his support to the Brilliant Lecture Series by attending a chichi fundraising dinner at the home of John and Becca Cason Thrash next week, he won't be the only hot item that will have guests swooning. Benefit chair and host, Becca has, in her inimitable style, garnered two amazing auction items for which most chairwomen would sacrifice a wardrobe of Manolos.

    Thanks to Post Oak Motor Cars and McClain Gallery, Becca will take this fundraiser beyond the half million dollar mark.

     Bob McClain's McClain Gallery is providing a prized Robert Rauschenberg artwork, Narcissus, valued at $185,000. Post Oak Motor Cars is offering a one-year lease on a 2012 Bentley Continental GT Coupe, valued at $100,000. The car retails for $215,815.

     For Habitat in The Woodlands

    For those who might misguidedly think that philanthropy stops at the city limits, we offer the recent Habitat for Humanity of Montgomery County gala held at The Woodlands Marriott Waterway Hotel. The black-tie evening drew a crwod of 400 and raised $250,000.

    And that made four women very happy — gala chairs Brenda Mizell and Patti Gorgogni, emcee Dana Tyson and auctioneer Nelda Luce Blair, whose auction skills along brought in $75,000.

    "The Building Hope" gala honored the John Cooper School for its dedication to Habitat for Humanity.

    Making the scene were Jim Blair, Beverly and Ed Robb, Ed Jones, Kelly and Brady Hull, Bonnie and Chuck Schuetz, Peggy and Mitch Hausman and Lisa and Fred Koetting.

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    Silk and Sequins

    Cultural fashion takes center stage at Runway to Asia in Houston

    Joel Luks
    Jul 10, 2025 | 12:30 pm
    Asia Society Runway to Asia fashion show 2025
    Photo by Annie Mulligan
    Rekha Muddaraj, Shazia Sultan, Danny Nguyen, Zang Toi, Bonna Kol, Phoebe Tudor, and Leigh Smith.

    If fashion is a language, Runway to Asia spoke it fabulously fluently.

    The ballroom of The Post Oak Hotel shimmered with silk, sequins, and sartorial splendor as Asia Society Texas debuted its first-ever Runway to Asia style-studded affair — a glamorous gala-meets-catwalk moment where heritage was hand-stitched into haute couture.

    More than 300 guests filled the swanky venue for the event, greeted by models perched like living mannequins in Danny Nguyen’s Fall/Winter 2025 collection, each ensemble a fabric-forward love letter to cultural identity and avant-garde vision. This was a glamnifesto on what it means to wear your roots with pride and purpose.

    Leading the stylish charge were co-chairs Leigh Smith, Shazia Sultan, and Phoebe Tudor, who curated the afternoon like seasoned couturiers. Attendees noshed on a three-course lunch before the real feast began: a full-throttle catwalk presentation honoring two design dynamos — Danny Nguyen, Houston’s own silhouettist supreme, and international fashion luminary Zang Toi.

    Rekha Muddaraj, former KHOU 11 anchor turned emcee extraordinaire, welcomed the crowd with poise, passing the mic to Asia Society Texas president Bonna Kol, who framed the gathering as more than just fashion, but part of the nonprofit’s mission to celebrate cultural diversity through art.

    The applause crescendoed when Michael Buening, the organization’s director of performing arts and culture, announced the event had raised more than $300,000 to fund more than 20 annual programs.

    Pro tip: philanthropy always looks better in couture.

    Then came the honors. Nguyen was honored with the Texas Trendsetter Award, praised by Shazia Sultan for blending traditional elegance with avant-glam silhouettes. Meanwhile, Tudor crowned Toi with the Global Icon Award, charting his runway rise from Malaysia to Manhattan.

    Toi’s “Opulence of the Orient Express” collection brought the house down with 37 jaw-dropping looks: Ottoman-inspired caftans, midnight velvet suits, pearl-dusted evening gowns, and coat-dress hybrids that defied the laws of layering. Each ensemble whispered luxury and screamed craftsmanship.

    The raffle added a thrill of retail roulette with prizes including a luxe Hill Country escape, personal styling sessions with the honorees, and golden tickets to Zang Toi’s Fall 2026 New York show.

    Soaking in the scene were Sushila Agrawal, Nancy Allen, Fady Armanious, Kristy Bradshaw, Divya Brown, Tripp Carter, Theresa Chang, Anne Chao, Molly Crownover, Kari Dagley, Chloe Dao, Debbie Festari, Kathy and Marty Goossen, Brigitte Kalai, Mandy Kao, Sippi Khurana, Karen Kwok, Teri Lee, Kelley Lubanko, Christy Lynn, Petra Martinez, Sneha Merchant, Duyen Nguyen, Cabrina Owsley, Akemi Saitoh, Miya Shay, Sue and Randy Sim, Shawn Stephens, Y. Ping Sun, Ileana Trevino, Janae Tsai, Stephanie Tsuru, Heidi Turney, and Asha Virani.

    Asia Society Runway to Asia fashion show 2025
      

    Photo by Annie Mulligan

    Rekha Muddaraj, Shazia Sultan, Danny Nguyen, Zang Toi, Bonna Kol, Phoebe Tudor, and Leigh Smith.

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