Horowitz raises more than $25K through fall fashion show

By Deb Silverthorn
Special to the TJP

“Ciao Bella” is how 17-year-old Sam Horowitz begins his farewells as he prepares to leave Dallas for college next fall.
His first goodbyes are attached to a donation of more than $25,000 to The Legacy Midtown Park raised through a spectacular fall fashion show he curated Sunday, Oct. 8, at the home of his grandparents, Carol and Steve Aaron.
“This is really a special day and it’s because so many people have supported me and my dreams that I’m able to be here and have this happen,” said Sam, standing amid the forest-like backyard of his grandparents’ home. “This, my third and final Fall Preview, comes because of the support of so many and I can’t thank everyone enough.”
With three shows now in the books, Sam has raised more than $62,000: in 2015, $12,000 for the Aaron Family JCC, and, in 2016 and 2017, more than $50,000 for The Legacy Senior Communities. This year’s donation will support the Financial Assistance Fund, helping those in need. Sam has also participated in the JCC’s J’s Got Talent and J Idol, raising money for the Jewish Federation of Greater Dallas and Jewish Family Service.
For Sam, tzedakah and volunteerism is a hereditary trait. His grandparents, community pillars and philanthropists Carol and Steve Aaron, were honored that he chose a project so close to them.
“I couldn’t be prouder of Sam for stepping forward and wanting to donate to our Financial Assistance Fund. A community is judged by how they care for their seniors and that’s an expensive prospect. For the next generation to make that a priority — I’m so thrilled,” said Carol Aaron. She is the chair of The Legacy Midtown Park, scheduled to break ground next year, and former board chair of The Legacy Senior Communities. “We had family living at Golden Acres and we know that a community that helps its residents, and its residents’ families, provides a much more wonderful life. That our own next generation is making this project a priority, swells my heart.”
Sam’s biggest fan was brimming with a smile brighter than any jewels on the runway. “Sam is fortunate to have found his heartbeat in life early and he’s now using his eye for style to give back to his community. I’ll always be there for him,” said his mom, Angela Horowitz. “I’m so proud because he not only understands what it means to work hard for your success, but also he is living — even as a young man — what it means to share that success and to have the desire to help others.”
This summer, Angela got to see Sam’s eyes glisten brightly when he met Italian designers Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana. Working toward a career as a creative director for a fashion house or label, Sam loves textures, design and color. He appreciates the risks that Dolce and Gabbana take, and hopes someday to have a similar career path.
An A student at Parish Episcopal School, Sam is a former Akiba Academy student and member of Congregation Shearith Israel. The son of Angela Horowitz and Gary Horowitz and older brother of Sydney and Max, he sets the bar high for success, commitment and following one’s dreams.
Center stage is not an unusual place for Sam, who performed in the casts of more than a dozen productions at the JCC. He had several film and television roles including Barney & Friends Laugh with Me, Big D NYE, Dirty Red, The Deep End and The First Kill, as well as commercial and industrial projects. A participant in Columbia University’s Summer Programs for High School Students, he studied business, finance and economics. Through SPI: Study Abroad, he studied in Spain.
Sam entered his teens with lots of lights, cameras, and action as his bar mitzvah celebration was covered by local and national media with appearances on Ellen and Good Morning America. A YouTube video shot by Elixir Entertainment garnered more than 1,190,135 views.
Sam’s Facebook page and YouTube Fashion and Lifestyle channels are a couple of his many projects. On- and offline, he produces fashion shows, critiques red carpet looks, and styles friends and family members. Videos about trends and his top picks range from My Favorite Facial and Summer of Silk to Eight Looks for Hanukkah and Fashion Week Style Secrets.
“I read about and watch the trends and I get to mix my love of everything fashion with helping people make great style choices. For every person that usually means something different so the job is never the same and never going to feel like a job,” said Sam. “I’ve learned so much in just these three shows that I’ve done, from the negotiations and working with the modeling agency, to actual wardrobe decisions and how to build a collection to match the audience attending, but also about seating charts and event planning, from invitations to literally the napkin choice. But it’s so much fun and very rewarding.”
It’s no coincidence that Stanley Korshak owner Crawford Brock, Korshak’s Director of Fashion and Events and Director of Windows Bret McKinney and Sam’s Fall Preview Producer Caryn Fonberg all referred to Sam’s “passion for fashion” when asked what makes this teen a future fashion titan. “Sam is nothing short of amazing. I’ve never met anyone with more zip in his step,” said Brock, whose store’s fashions were shown on Sam’s Ciao Bella runway by Campbell Wagner Agency models. “He’s an absolute talent, a superb showman and he has the fortitude to create a future for himself and for our industry.”
For Sam, whose family is synonymous with the spirit of giving, The Legacy Midtown Park was a definite in his design for donations. “I’ve grown up volunteering at The Legacy, playing bingo, card games, visiting and listening to residents’ stories. It’s a place where there are smiles on all of the seniors’ faces,” he said. “I wanted to partner again for the future because growing older isn’t always easy, but at The Legacy, they do their best to make it magnificent.”
To follow Sam Horowitz, visit Facebook.com/MeetSamHorowitz, Instagram.com/Sam_Horowitz,Twitter.com/SamHorowitz1, or on YouTube at http://bit.ly/1aOWkmF.