Fashion on the Farm!

Cynthia Petrello & Gracie Cavnar
Cynthia Petrello & Gracie Cavnar

Recipe for Success’ second annual Fashion in the Fields event was a smash success, raising more than $150,000 for the foundation, whose mission is to teach and inspire healthy eating.


Founder and CEO Gracie Cavnar welcomed more than 200 supporters — dressed in casual-cool, farm-fab attire — to the organization’s Hope Farms facility. Waiters greeted with trays of lemonade, mimosas and Bloody Marys, and folks happily sipped and shopped a pop-up boutique featuring vendors like Mary Patton Designs, Tata Harper cosmetics and more.

Fashion in the Fields took place on Veteran’s Day, so it was fitting that the main event — a fashion show featuring the season’s chicest looks from Neiman Marcus — kicked off with a salute to Hope Farms’ 2019 Warriors to Farmers Veterans class. All prior-service military service members, the four farmers-in-training will, through the foundation’s year-long program, learn to operate their own urban farm and help solve problems of food inequity in Houston and beyond. After the trainees strutted their stuff, other models — along with adorable kiddos of donors and supporters! — took to the catwalk in outfits full of seasonal sparkle and fantastic fur.

After the show, a southern-fried brunch buffet beckoned, and an exciting raffle included items like a Farbergé scarf and pocket square, and a seasonal Hope Farms produce share.

Bill Baldwin, Fady Armanious & Ginger Baldwin
Dispatches
Leadership in Action: John Kuykendall Traded Newcaster Dream for Success in Luxury Retail

John Kuykendall, Showroom Manager, Sub-Zero, Wolf and Cove

How did you get to where you are today? Growing up I had envisioned myself as a news anchor, living in NY and enthusiastically saying into the camera “Good Morning America!”. To this day, I am still a news/political junkie. My mother owned fur salons so specialty retail, luxury retail was in my blood through the family business. Eventually, mom shuttered the stores and I was recruited to a large specialty retailer. Over the next 30 years, I was in commissioned sales on the sales floor, became a department manager, worked my way up to buyer and store manager. Although I never became a newscaster, I did live in NYC for a few years. But Texas is home and with aging grandparents, I felt the pull to come back to my roots. A headhunter approached me. I never envisioned myself in the high-end appliance market, but there are so many similarities. Clients want a memorable experience; whether shopping for diamonds and fur or remodeling their kitchen.

Keep Reading Show less

The patio at Heights & Co.

IT'S ALMOST TIME for summer vacations, but Heights & Co. is offering escapes on its newly redecorated patio in the form of wine and movie nights — no passport needed! Visit France, Italy, Greece, Spain, and more through wine pairings and tasting menus, all complemented by movies set in each location.

Keep Reading Show less
Food

Ally Shell and Martijn van Koolwijk

BLAME IT ON the Moon! Mercury Chamber Orchestra’s 2025 gala at the Thompson hotel — themed “Moonlight Serenade and chaired by Ally Shell and Martijn Van Koolwijk — was a night of glamour and big band vibes, raising more than $350,000 for the company.

Keep Reading Show less
Art+Culture