Tom Ford Fever Hits Houston: Luxury Fashion and High Art Make the Perfect Pairing at Legendary Soirée

What: Tom Ford Grand Opening benefitting The Menil Collection.

Where: Cocktails at Tom Ford in River Oaks District; Dinner at The Menil Collection.

Who: Chair Becca Cason Thrash, in a stunning black Tom Ford gown selected for her by Mr. Ford, with husband John; chair Domenico de Sole, co-founder and chairman of Tom Ford and chairman of Sotheby’s, with wife Eleanor; chair Josef Helfenstein, director of the Menil, with wife Dorothee; Tom Ford’s New York crew Cori Galpern, Cliff Fleiser, Jared Reichert, Nora Bedrossian, and Angelo DeVito, along with regional director/store manager Alan May; the Menil’s Karen Sumner and board chair Janet Hobby; OliverMcMillan’s Dene Oliver, Colin Moussa, and Charlotte Johnson; Tod’s Giulia D’Alema, in from New York; Lucas Samoza, in from Paris and wearing his custom Tom Ford wedding dinner jacket; Tony Bradfield and Kevin Black; Ceron and Todd Fiscus; Phoebe Tudor; Melissa Mithoff; gallerist Barbara Davis with artist Christy Karll; Carmina Zamorano; Edward Tyler Nahem’s gallery director Janis Cecil, in from New York.

PC Moment: Tom Ford fever has hit Houston. No ordinary retail party would do for the ultimate luxury brand — ticket prices for the store’s grand-opening celebration sold out quickly, even at $1,000 each. Tom Ford, unable to attend as he is filming his latest movie in London, knew to call friend Becca Cason Thrash to preside as chair and pair the brand with The Menil Collection, the world’s most storied private museum. An epic evening unfolded in two acts, starting with the first chance to shop the stunning Tom Ford boutique and culminating in the ultimate curated dinner party at the Menil, complete with courses from hot spots Pax Americana, Helen Greek Food and Wine, and Bistro Menil. Miz Thrash arranged for one long dining table to seat 130, which Richard Flowers of The Events Company swathed in Menil gray with no flowers but very chic columns of candles, which lent a surreal light to the Renzo Piano-designed museum and this masterpiece evening. Dom Pérignon 2005 was paired with dessert to toast Tom Ford and the night, which brought in $125,000 to benefit the Menil.