{"id":326698,"date":"2025-10-23T14:41:31","date_gmt":"2025-10-23T14:41:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/326698\/"},"modified":"2025-10-23T14:41:31","modified_gmt":"2025-10-23T14:41:31","slug":"houston-fashion-designer-returns-home-with-persian-inspired-couture","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/326698\/","title":{"rendered":"Houston fashion designer returns home with Persian-inspired couture"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Round Top turned into Hollywood-with-a-heart as guests gathered at <a href=\"https:\/\/windyknollroundtop.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Windy Knoll<\/a> for the second-annual <a href=\"https:\/\/roundtopfilmfest.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Round Top Film Festival Gala<\/a>. The glittering celebration of cinema and the Texas creative sector meant red carpet looks were more Round Top chic.<\/p>\n<p>Think cowboy boots, turquoise jewels, and hats that could have headlined their own fashion reel.<\/p>\n<p>Emcee <strong>Marla Hurley<\/strong>, the Modern Marla founder, opened the September 26 show with humor and flair before festival co-founders <strong>Shanna<\/strong> <strong>Schanen<\/strong> and <strong>Skylar Schanen<\/strong> took the stage to thank supporters and reaffirm the festival\u2019s mission to spotlight independent filmmakers.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Joe Newcomb<\/strong>, producer of <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Dallas_Buyers_Club\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Dallas Buyers Club<\/a> and CEO of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.truthentertainment.info\/\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">Truth Entertainment<\/a>, shared insight into Texas\u2019 growing film scene and urged guests to seize the moment to nurture local talent. His message landed perfectly in a room full of film devotees, donors, and dreamers.<\/p>\n<p>Among them was <strong>Jackson Elliott<\/strong>, a La Grange High School student whose heartfelt remarks brought the crowd to its feet. Elliott credited the Round Top Film Festival\u2019s Screenwriting Workshop \u2014 led by <strong>Giovanni Porta<\/strong> and <strong>Skylar Schanen <\/strong>\u2014 with shaping his voice as a writer.<\/p>\n<p>The night\u2019s menu was pure Round Top indulgence. Lulu\u2019s and Royers Pie Haven served a feast worthy of its own close-up, while the Ellis Motel kept glasses full with Spicy Palomas, Round Top Ranch Waters, and Elvira\u2019s Espresso Martinis. Wines from the Round Top Vineyards and Blackbird Vineyards rounded out the cinematic sips.<\/p>\n<p>Auctioneer <strong>Carre Fruge<\/strong> of BiddyUp led a spirited live auction featuring luxe trips to Cibolo Creek Ranch, Four Seasons Costa Palmas, and Tanzania with Ganam Safari. A Janus Motorcycle custom-painted by <strong>Laura Goodson<\/strong>, a skydiving experience with <strong>RJ Casey<\/strong>, and a diamond tennis necklace from Zadok Jewelers added extra sparkle. The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rayjohnstonband.com\/\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">Ray Johnston Band<\/a> and <strong>Calder Allen<\/strong> kept the crowd dancing until late, as stars twinkled over Windy Knoll.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/roundtopfilmfest.org\/\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">Round Top Film Festival<\/a> returns November 6-9, with a long weekend of storytelling, starlight, and small-town magic. The gala raised more than $300,000 to fuel the organization\u2019s educational and creative programs.<\/p>\n<p>On the scene were <strong>Rob Schanen<\/strong>, <strong>Shonnery Pettit<\/strong>, <strong>Tracey Marshall<\/strong>, <strong>Susan Ashcroft<\/strong>, <strong>Tanya Ruby<\/strong>, <strong>Brian Becker<\/strong>, <strong>James Dick<\/strong>, <strong>Minnie Baird<\/strong>, <strong>Liz Stepp<\/strong>, <strong>Jessie Greendyk<\/strong>, and <strong>Katie Kime<\/strong>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Round Top turned into Hollywood-with-a-heart as guests gathered at Windy Knoll for the second-annual Round Top Film Festival&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":326699,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5130],"tags":[60374,4345,19608,358,3187],"class_list":{"0":"post-326698","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-houston","8":"tag-fashion-show","9":"tag-houston","10":"tag-parties","11":"tag-texas","12":"tag-tx"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115424007617129408","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/326698","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=326698"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/326698\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/326699"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=326698"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=326698"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=326698"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}