September 5 • 2019 41
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bullied by his peers and rabbis at the 
yeshivah he attended. He writes about 
growing up in a Syrian Orthodox Jewish 
community in Brooklyn, his special rela-
tionship with his mother, the challenge 
of being gay and rising to the top of the 
fashion world. 

Detroiters can learn more about 
Mizrahi’
s upbringing, career and the 
world of haute couture on Tuesday, Sept. 
10, at Congregation Shaarey Zedek, when 
he will be the guest speaker at Hadassah 
Greater Detroit’
s Judi Schram Annual 
Meeting. The 
event, which includes 
30 boutiques open free to the public, 
is named for longtime local Hadassah 
leader Judi Schram, who died in 2017. 
Funds raised will benefit critical needs at 
Hadassah Medical Organization in Israel. 
Sherry Margolis, news anchor at Fox 2, 
will ask Mizrahi questions, and then the 
audience will be invited to participate. 
Mizrahi says he hopes many of the 
questions will be about his childhood 
and his memoir, which will be sold at 
the event. “I will I start off by giving an 
overview of the book — I want people 
to know who I am,
” says Mizrahi, 56. “I 
hope my experiences will resonate with 
the audience.
” 
As a young boy, Mizrahi thought his 
calling was show business. “When I was 
about 7 years old, I went to see Funny 
Girl with my family and was so inspired 
by Streisand I started imitating her,
” 
recalls Mizrahi, who attended a yeshivah 
from kindergarten through eighth grade. 
“I impersonated Judy Garland and Liza 
Minelli, and I would do these female 
impressions inappropriately in places like 
the lobby of shul!” 

DRAWN TO FASHION
But it was designing clothes for the rich 
and famous that made Mizrahi a house-
hold name. When he entered the High 
School of Performing Arts in New York 
City, his focus was the entertainment 
world. However, by the time he was a 
junior, he switched gears and found a bet-
ter way to express himself. 
“I realized all my friends were gor-
geous, thin, blond and movie star types; I 
was fat and I didn’
t have that self-image,
” 
he says. “So, I rethought my career and 
decided to work in the fashion industry. It 
enriched me so much and gave my life a 
different kind of story and platform.
” 
His interest in the world of fashion 
didn’
t come from out of the blue. His 
father was a children’
s clothing manufac-
turer, and Mizrahi, who loved reading 
fashion magazines, had sewing machines 
at his disposal. 
“I started to make puppets and sew 
clothes for them,
” recalls Mizrahi, who 
added that he liked doodling sketches 
of outfits in the margins of his Hebrew 
books. “By the time I was 10, I had this 
big puppet theater in the garage, and 
I made their clothes. My father had sew-
ing machines everywhere and he taught 
me how to sew. By the time I was 13, I 
was a really good sewer, and I started 
making clothes for my mom and myself. 
It became this fun, compelling thing. My 
mom (who is in her 90s) was really into 
fashion and encouraged my interest.
” 
After high school, Mizrahi attended 
Parson’
s School of Design in New York 
City. His first fashion job was working 
at Perry Ellis, then with designer Jeffrey 
Banks, then Calvin Klein. Along the way, 
he honed his skills — selecting fabric, 
participating in design meetings and 
sketching clothes. By the time he was 26, 
he went out on his own. 
In 1989, he presented his first show, 
which catapulted him into fame and his 
couture soon dominated the fashion 
mags. He dressed celebs for red carpets, 
and his clients have included Michelle 
Obama, Meryl Streep, Hillary Clinton 
and Oprah. 
“Barbra Streisand was so lovely,
” he 
recalls. “I tailored a suit for her and 

Woman’
s Wear Daily erroneously attribut-
ed it to Donna Karan. Barbra wrote me a 
note saying, ‘
We know who really made 
this suit!’
” 
 
WEARING MANY HATS
But this fashion designer’
s enormously 
successful journey had its highs and 
lows. He made countless guest appear-
ances on television and in the movies. 
He earned an Emmy nomination for 
Best Costume Design for his work in 
Liza Minnelli Live. He was the subject 
of the critically acclaimed documen-
tary film Unzipped, which chronicled 
his 1994 collection. And he’
s a cabaret 
singer. 
Despite being one of the world’
s most 
beloved designers, the company was 
losing money and closed after his fall 
1998 collection. Still, he returned to 
fashion in 2002, teaming up with Target 
and becoming one of the first high-end 
designers to create affordable clothes for 
the masses. In 2009, he launched his life-
style brand ISAACMIZRAHILIVE! sold 
exclusively on QVC. In 2011, he sold his 
trademark to Xcel Brands. 
Among his many credits, he hosted 
The Isaac Mizrahi Show for seven years; 
he wrote two books; in 2016, he had an 
exhibition of his designs at the Jewish 
Museum in New York. Currently, he sells 
on QVC and Lord & Taylor, and serves as 
a judge on Project Runway: All-Stars. 
When asked what he’
d like his legacy 
to be, he referred to his Judaism. “My 
name is Isaac, which means laughter in 
Hebrew,
” says Mizrahi, who considers 
himself a cultural Jew. “I think, most 
importantly, I want my legacy to be about 
humor.
” 
Nevertheless, he added that he’
s 
“obsessed with obituaries” and the first 
thing he does when he reads the New 
York Times is look at the obituary page. 
“I have dreams about my obituary,
” he 
admits. “
Although the New York Times 
probably already has it written (as they do 
for famous people) and revises it as time 
goes on, I hope I can live longer to add 
more things. I want people to know I 
had integrity, and what my life really 
stood for.” ■ 

“I rethought my career and 
decided to work in the fashion industry. 
It enriched me so much and gave my life 
a diff
 erent kind of story and platform.” 

— ISAAC MIZRAHI

details
Isaac Mizrahi will speak at 1 p.m. 
Tuesday, Sept. 10, at Hadassah’
s annual 
fundraising meeting at Congregation 
Shaarey Zedek in Southfield. Speaker-
only tickets are still available at $50. 
A private reception with Mizrahi is at 
11 a.m.; tickets are $230 including his 
speech. The deadline to register for the 
luncheon has passed. More than 30 
boutiques are open free starting at 10 
a.m.-3:30 p.m. (with a pause for the 
speaker), with 15 percent of proceeds 
going to Hadassah. For tickets, call 
(248) 683-5030 or register online at 
Hadassah.org/detroitevents. 

DAVID ANDRAKO

Mizrahi goes back to his performing roots when he does 

cabaret singing, sometimes at Cafe Carlyle in New York City.

