A Man with Flair

on the cover/books
arts&life

Designer Isaac Mizrahi will dish about life, his Judaism, 
fashion and more at Hadassah’
s annual meeting.

ALICE BURDICK SCHWEIGER SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS
A

t just 5 years old, fashion icon Isaac 
Mizrahi would rather dress a Barbie doll 
then play with a G.I. Joe. Around his 
sixth birthday, while at a local Brooklyn variety 
store, his mom acquiesced and tossed a Barbie 
set, complete with a change of clothes and black 
pumps, in her shopping cart.
“I stayed cool on the outside, but, on the 
inside, I was hopping up and down with joy,
” he 

writes in his new memoir I.M. (Flatiron Books). 
“I measured the minutes it would take to get 
from that spot — out of the danger zone of 
changing her mind — back to the security and 
privacy of my bedroom.
” 
That’
s just one of the revealing stories that 
Mizrahi shares in his compelling book, released 
earlier this year. His says childhood was wrought 
with depression, overeating, insomnia and being 

GREGG RICHARDS