Tequila Shots & Shirtless Hunks! Fashionable Fiesta Raises $400K

Tequila Shots & Shirtless Hunks! Fashionable Fiesta Raises $400K

Maygel Coronel and Fady Armanious

SALUD TO THE ladies of the Latin Women’s Initiative, whose 20th-anniversary luncheon garnered a whopping $400,000, making it the most successful ever!


The famously fun event took place at the Hilton Americas ballroom, where chairs Vicky Dominguez and Patricia Garcia welcomed guests for cocktails and shopping prior to the sit-down lunch. Entertainment courtesy of the UH Moores School of Music and Ambassadors International Ballet Folklorico accompanied the tequila-sipping tipplers, who eventually made their way to their tables, eager to get a good view of the fashion show.

Presented by Tootsies, the runway looks were all designed by Latinos, and Colombian swimwear designer Maygel Coronel even made a personal appearance. Shirtless male models, dressed in swim trunks, got a particularly rousing round of applause. A raffle touted items like baubles from Zadok Jewelers, and at the conclusion of the presentation, all 1,000 guests raised a glass of Maestri Tequila for a toast.

Proceeds will be split among the nonprofits Books Between Kids, Homemade Hope, Tejano Center for Community Concerns, Undies for Everyone, and Wesley Community Center, all of which support and service the city’s Latino community.

Arcy Munoz, Jonathan Marshall

Beatrice Urquide, Consul Karla

Cyndy Garza Roberts, Roland Garcia

Glades Sotomayor, Dr. Emma Lopes

Javier Rodriguez, Karen Payne, Ceron

Jovanny Orellana, Malorie Rodriguez

John Segovia, Helene Zadok

Laura Salinas-Pruneda, Monica Jiminez, Hoda Sana

Michel Leal

Riley Devlin, Branson Packar

Style

Dandelion Cafe owners Sarah Lieberman and J.C. Ricks with Mireya Villarreal of GMA, Chris Shepherd and Lindsey Brown of Southern Smoke Foundation (photo by Shane Dante Photography)

THE SOUTHERN SMOKE Foundation, established by chef Chris Shepherd, has only been around for seven years — but that's long enough to have helped hospitality workers through hurricanes, freezes, a pandemic, and countless other personal situations requiring emergency relief.

Keep Reading Show less
Food

A detail of Konoshima Okoku's 'Tigers,' 1902

THROUGHOUT THE HOT — and hopefully hurricane-free — months of summer, visitors to the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston can step through a portal and experience another era with Meiji Modern: Fifty Years of New Japan, on view through Sept. 15.

Keep Reading Show less