Calling All Models

New Dallas talent agency sets sights on Latin American market

Dallas has a new boutique agency representing models for fashion, print and runway, as well as talent for commercials, television and film. Amores Management is also the first bilingual Dallas agency focused on the Latin American market.

“There is a strong need for Latino talent in this market,” said agency director Luis Basteri, who has experience as a talent director, model booker and SAG agent. “I want to offer my services where there is an increasingly high demand.”

Anticipating his clients’ needs, Basteri intends to cultivate an eclectic mix of talent and leverage relationships with other agencies to create more opportunities for those he represents.

“Our focus is to scout those classic and edgy beauties that we can develop, represent and manage so that we can put them to work locally and internationally,” Basteri said. “Each of our models has a very individualized plan.”

Amores uses the most advanced booking system — also used by top agencies around the word — to manage its models and provide robust agency services to clients. Using this advanced system also makes it easier for Amores to collaborate with notable agencies in other major markets.

“We are fortunate to have support from bookers with agencies such as Request, Major, DNA in New York and Chadwick Models in Australia,” Basteri said.

Think you have what it takes to be one of Amores’ next models? There is an open call September 7, noon to 4 pm, at the Dallas headquarters located at 4309 Irving Ave., Ste. 220.

Amores represents fit, toned girls and boys with good body proportion, starting at age 14. The agency looks for girls between 5-foot-8 and 5-foot-11 and boys between 5-foot-11 and 6-foot-2.

Luis Basteri, director of Amores Management, a new Dallas talent agency focusing on the Latin American market.

Luis Basteri of Amores Management in Dallas

Photo courtesy of Amores Management

Luis Basteri, director of Amores Management, a new Dallas talent agency focusing on the Latin American market.

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RIP Lester

Dallas women's clothing store chain founder Lester Melnick dies at 99

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Lester Melnick

Lester Melnick, who owned an eponymous clothing store chain in Dallas for many decades, passed away on Sunday, December 29, 2024; he was 99.

Born Norman Lester Melnick on October 29, 1925, Melnick opened his first Lester Melnick women's clothing store in the Preston Royal Village shopping center at 5959 Royal Ln. in 1962, where it became one of THE places to shop. He went on to open 12 stores total, including locations in Richardson, Plano, Arlington, Casa Linda Plaza, Bachman Lake, Fort Worth, and NorthPark.

In addition to his stores, Melnick gained fame as having a hand in the design of the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders uniforms. As one fashion blog notes, this came after Southwest Airlines began dressing their flight attendants in hot pants, inspiring Lester Melnick designer Paula Van Wagoner to incorporate hot pants style into the prototype they created — a style that prevails today.

In 1973, Melnick also designed the "Hockaday plaid" uniforms worn by students at The Hockaday School, the prestigious private school where his three daughters and three of his grandchildren attended. As this 2017 profile notes, when Melnick’s plaid became available, Hockaday students were so thrilled by the incorporation of the color green into a plain black & white that the school celebrated.

Hockaday students in Hockaday plaidHockaday

In an interview with the Dallas Jewish Historical Society in 2011, Melnick recounts his childhood in New Jersey, serving in the Marines, then attending college at the University of Miami where he majored in accounting.

He moved to Dallas initially to sell coats, but eventually went to work for Neiman Marcus for 9 1/2 years, where his creativity caught the eye of company chairman Stanley Marcus who promoted him to the position of buyer.

The Lester Melnick clothing store chain became a family operation, with Melnick joined by his daughter Leslie Diers who headed merchandising; his daughter Julie Dearien serving as business manager; and his wife Cynthia handling special events and public relations as well as overseeing the gift department.

Melnick rose in the Dallas retail world during its heyday, when clothes were still manufactured in the U.S. before moving overseas. But as the fashion world changed, he closed down the business in 2003.

He's survived by his wife Cynthia; three daughters Sara Melnick Albert, and husband Mark, Leslie Melnick Diers, and husband Bryan, and Julie Melnick Dearien, and husband Jim; six grandchildren, and four great grandchildren.

A memorial service will be held on Thursday, January 2, 2025 at 2:30 pm at Temple Emanu-El, 8500 Hillcrest Rd., Dallas.

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