Israeli-American fashion designer Elie Tahari has long been designing suits and officewear for working women, part of his ready-to-wear brand.
Now the New York-based fashion creator is dressing female Israeli soldiers, including wounded veterans, aiming to beautify their lives a little.
Tahari has pledged that profits from his online business will go to support Israel’s injured servicewomen.
According to Tahari, there are some 1,800 injured female fighters. He hopes to ultimately reach all of them and has been sending clothing to about two dozen soldiers a month.
The fashion designer’s goal of supporting that population began when he met wounded Israel Defenses Forces veteran Eli Shako in New York.
Shako told Tahari he was raising money for injured soldiers.
“I said, ‘I can dress them,’” Tahari told The Times of Israel.
He then began sending clothing and accessories to Israel.
“They love a lot of bags, sunglasses, dresses to go out at night,” said Tahari. “They appreciated it all; they appreciated the gesture more than the clothing itself.”
Some of the soldiers sent Tahari videos of themselves in their new attire, but filmed themselves in the dark because they were embarrassed to reveal their injuries. Some are missing arms, legs or eyes, said Tahari.
“It affected me deeply,” he said.
Tahari’s project gained steam when Shako’s friend, Tobi Rubinstein, a non-denominational rabbi who explores the connection between fashion and faith, suggested a fashion show featuring some of the injured soldiers wearing Tahari’s designs.
The Threads of Valor fashion show was held in Miami in early November at St. Thomas University, a Catholic campus where Rubinstein is on the board.
Among the participants were two IDF soldiers turned models for the day, including one veteran who survived after being shot 12 times.
“It was very emotional to meet them,” said Tahari. “They were all beautiful and very young.”
Tahari said the visiting soldiers loved the event and referred to Miami’s Jewish community, which includes a substantial number of Israeli-American immigrants, as “the second Israel.”
The other models strutting down the runway at the Tahari fashion show included Jewish influencers and Jewish female leaders such as Mira Tzur, Elizabeth Sutton, Brooke Goldstein, and Tessa Veksler.
“The models themselves were all real advocates, who have skin in the game,” said Rubinstein. “It was an extension of the definition of warriors themselves.”
The concept of warriors battling for survival feels personal to Tahari, 73, who struggled with his own difficult upbringing.
Tahari was born to an Iranian-Israeli family and grew up in an immigrant absorption camp. He spent time in Israeli orphanages and youth villages when his parents’ marriage ended.
He and his brother came to New York in 1971, washing cars for cash and living on a bench in Central Park before they met other young Israelis who took them in.
Tahari first worked as an assistant in Manhattan’s Garment Center before he helped popularize the tube top in 1973. He opened his own Madison Avenue boutique a year later, and with his brother, Avraham Tahari, cofounded the Elie Tahari brand, building it into a billion-dollar fashion empire.
On October 7, 2023, the brothers were spending Shabbat together when they first found out about the Hamas terrorist attack unfolding in Israel’s south.
“I stayed up all night watching TV, that’s what I’m still doing,” said Tahari, who still visits Israel frequently and is in close contact with his extended Israeli family.
