Elie Tahari is a designer of woman's clothing. He has evolved a $500 million business, with a presence on five continents, in more than 600 US stores and in five free-standing boutiques.
At 6 years old, Elie Tahari, clutching a shoe-box, was crowded into an airplane cargo compartment along with his family and dozens of other Persian Jews desperate to leave Iran, where Jews were no longer welcome. The shoebox contained food for travel and the papers he would need to begin his life in Israel.
Tahari grew up in an Israeli orphanage and immigrated to the United States in the 1970s with little money. After his arrival in New York, Elie Tahari was desperate for work amd went from showroom to showroom in the Garment District looking for employment. Things turned around for him when he learned about retail. His position selling clothing from a boutique in Greenwich Village was an introduction to his first love– designing women’s fashion. Elie Tahari’s determination to learn and his auspicious attraction to the electric energy of New York’s famed club scene, inspired the designs that propelled him into the ‘who’s who’ of fashion.
Elie Tahari survived the ‘70s and stayed focused on fashion. His designs were so well received; he was one of the first fashion designers who opened a boutique on Madison Avenue in 1974.
Parlaying his keen ability to predict what a woman wants from fashion before she even knows it, he turned his attentions in the 80’s to the tailored suit — a design effort that redefined a decade. Today, Elie Tahari continues to empower women with designs inspired by his belief that smart women can look sexy.
Even with these accomplishments, Elie Tahari felt something was missing. Just after he blew out the candles on his 46th birthday he met his wife. In his own words, “Rory is my greatest love, and therefore, my greatest inspiration.” In a truly collaborative effort, this unique husband-wife team has tripled the size of the company in the last five years, injecting the brand with new meaning and vigor with the launch of the Elie Tahari Collection.
Women have been drawn to Elie Tahari designs for over three decades, and this devoted following continues to revel in the feminine embellishments, sensual fabrics, and subtle textures that have come to define the Elie Tahari collection.
The United States, has five free standing boutiques in New York, Boston, East Hampton, Atlanta, and Las Vegas.
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