Elie Tahari

Elie Tahari

Born in Jerusalem (1952), Elie Tahari is an opulent fashion designer of menswear as well as women’s outfits. The eponymous company that Tahari founded has an annual revenue of more than $498 million.

He was born to parents with Persian/Jewish ancestry. Tahari has four sisters Illana, Shulie, Diana, Aliza and two brothers Yosi and Avraham. It is surely a big family that migrated from Iran to Israel and resided in camps at Mevaseret Zion. Between 1953 and 1957, his family moved back to Iran and later returned to Israel.

His parents soon divorced and his dad remarried, due to which Tahari was sent to Rishon LeZion in an orphanage before relocating to Tel Aviv. The following years he had to spend in Kvutzat Schiller and in Hafia at an Israeli Air Force school.

In 1971, Tahari went to New York and worked initially as an electrician in the Garment District. Gradually as his talents came to recognition and his passion to move ahead urged to him to work harder, he became the head of his created women’s wear collection.

When the designer had time to focus on his personal life a bit, he married Rory who is a creative director as well as the vice-chairman of Tahari’s fashion house.

In 1974, he opened a fashion store on Madison Avenue. His flagship store is located in SoHo area of New York. Other than this, in US, his boutiques are located in Boston, Atlanta, East Hampton, Bal Harbor, Las Vegas, Dallas, Aurora and Boca Raton.

Designs created by Tahari are described as modern, tailored with an upscale and friendly office. He firstly worked on women’s clothes and later expanded into apparel for men and accessories. In 1997, along with Andrew Rosen (business partner) co-founded the fashion brand, Theory. While Rosen was in-charge of sales and marketing, Tahari was responsible for designing clothes. In 2003, Tahari sold his shares in the business.

In an interview, Elie Tahari described a little about his personal life, likes and dislikes as well as interests. His morning starts with a healthy breakfast to deal with the busy day up ahead. In case he needs to manage stress, Tahari prefers the art of meditation and thinks that it is the cure for him. At work, he loves wearing his Prada sneakers since they are comfortable and durable. The most treasured thing in his closet is his Elie Tahari Duncan pair of jeans. His beauty requisites are Eau de Monsieur from Annick Goutal and Facial Lip Balm by Kiehl. Tahari cannot live without his iPhone.  Moreover, Tahari is fond of eating sweet dishes.

Moving on, when the designer wants inspiration he walks across the city and this journey around and about has given him endless ideas throughout his fashion career.

He often acknowledges his team members for their great efforts during the fashion weeks and said once that he cannot survive without them in such an event. Everyone in the team works around the clock to complete the collection within the deadline. This is the time that Tahari loves the most since he is always eager to know what his peers have created. For him the New York fashion weeks are special and filled with creativity and energy. Tahari always goes for a fresh look when choosing models and he likes girls with a certain personality since models bring life to clothes. After his shows, he has a toast with his team to celebrate a successful ending.