Houston’s New Supersized Design Bonanza Draws a Horde of VIPs: A Weekend That Was 65 Years in the Making Thrills

Sixty-five years in the making, Kappa Alpha Theta‘s annual charity fundraiser, which this year morphed into Theta Design Weekend,  got off to a roaring start with the VIP preview party held on the evening before the curtain rose at the George R. Brown Convention Center on the 80-plus exhibitors, who had brought their ideas and their wares from across the country to the delight of shoppers, designers and homemakers.

Commercial Art provided energizing tunes for the well-heeled cadre that had come to see, be seen, shop and add to the charity coffers that is part and parcel of the Theta fundraiser. What would a new-style fundraiser be without its own special cocktail? On this night, the Theta Design Week signature cocktail was the Thyme Will Tell Strawberry Lemonade, concocted with Tito’s Vodka and fresh strawberries.

For the 600 guests who snared the first look at the new concept, a few newcomers did particularly well including Splendor Collections, McKenzie Dove, and Danielle Rollins, whose clothing booth was a huge hit.

Headlining the evening were design weekend chair Waverly Gage, preview party chair Deborah Dunkum and honorary chair, popular interior designer Mark D. Sikes. Add  event chairs Vicki Lovin and Jennifer O’Donnell with husband Walter O’Donnell to the welcome wagon crew along with Young Collector chairs Laura Renaud, Hallie Henley Sims, Julia Rigney, Brett Ashley Longoria, and Madeline Gregory.

Designing men & women: Carlton Varney,  Lindsey Herod, Paloma Contreras, Sheri Roane, Courtney and Mark Elias, Stephanie and Mark Hamilton, Sarah Eilers, Sandy Lucas, Ernie Manouse, Judy and Henry Sauer, Geoffrey Westergaard, Matt Camron and Russell Windham.