Elie Tahari, right, with wounded IDF soldier Devorah Leah Bart. Photo: Provided

Eight hundred people attended a fashion show on Thursday night in Miami by renowned Israeli fashion designer Elie Tahari that honored female soldiers in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and supported Tahari’s new initiative to provide clothing for wounded IDF veterans.

The runway show highlighted 40-50 garments from Tahari’s Fall 2026 collection, assembled into a new collection for the event titled “Threads of Valor.” Its name draws inspiration from a chapter in the Book of Proverbs called Eshet Chayil (“Women of Valor”), which praises a woman as the matriarch of her family and household, and is traditionally sung by a husband on Friday night before the start of the Shabbat meal. “Eshet Chayil” includes lines that talk about a woman making and selling garments.

“Tonight has been the best night of my life,” Tahari said on stage at the runway show. “I’m very proud to be a part of this. Anything I can do for the soldiers — they are my heroes; they are always going to be my heroes. And it makes me feel happy.”

The Israeli-born fashion designer immigrated to New York in 1971 with less than $100 and built a billion-dollar fashion empire that has been successful for over 50 years. Since the Hamas-led terrorist attack in southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, he has been passionate about supporting IDF veterans, with 100 percent of his e-commerce going directly to help female IDF soldiers.

Thursday’s runway show took place at St. Thomas University (STU), a Catholic school. It was co-organized by Ashlee Rzyczycki, director of STU’s Fashion Merchandising and Design program, as well as Tobi Rubinstein, who serves on the school’s fashion advisory committee and had a career in fashion for the last 45 years. The show was also organized in collaboration with Yedidim – an organization that assists IDF veterans — and Soireee Events.

The runway show was divided into different segments and each revolved around a different theme – including resilience, command, power, freedom, confidence, and sacrifice – that related to the journey and stories of the IDF soldiers honored at the event. Students in STU’s fashion design program collaborated in picking garments by Tahari that would be featured in the runway show, in line with the chosen themes, but students also helped create the lineup and worked behind the scenes at Thursday night’s event.

“It’s an interfaith collaboration. We are a Catholic school, but we can have conversations about faith. It’s been such an amazing learning opportunity for my students,” Rzyczycki told The Algemeiner. “The fashion show is taking audience members on this journey that these women have gone through, when they are in the army, and what they experience from that. It’s kind of a visual, artistic interpretation of that sacrifice … of what they do and incorporating how fashion can be part of that story and narrative.”

“It’s like bringing New York Fashon Week together with a charity event, blending it together and putting it in a major fashion school,” added Rubinstein, who is also a best-selling author and founder of the House of Faith and Fashion movement. “It’s really quite something, and the irony of it being in a Catholic fashion school that is so pro-Israel just makes it all the most delicious.”

Among the models who walked the runway on Thursday night were IDF soldiers, Jewish STU students, influencers, and pro-Israel activists, including former UC Santa Barbara Student Body President Tessa Veksler, who was featured in the “October 8” documentary; Lawfare Project founder Brooke Goldstein; and artist, designer, and entrepreneur Elizabeth Sutton.

“It was an immense privilege to walk the runway for such a monumental fashion moment in support of Israel — alongside legendary women who have fought for Israel not only on the frontlines of the war itself, but also on the frontlines of the global war against antisemitism. It was humbling,” Sutton told The Algemeiner. “To witness a fashion icon like Elie Tahari commit such bold philanthropy — pledging all e-commerce sales in perpetuity to wounded soldiers — was profoundly inspiring, and reaffirmed my own goals as a Jewish businesswoman, leader, and designer.”

Proceeds from Thursday night’s event went directly to supporting female IDF veterans through Tahari’s new initiative Project Wardrobe, which provides wounded female IDF veterans with clothing so they can feel empowered while acclimating back into society after they finish their army service. As part of the initiative, launched in collaboration with Yedidim and Soiree Events, Tahari gives a clothing allowance to soldiers each month and he covers the cost of shipping, delivery, taxes, and other fees for the garments, he told The Algemeiner.

“It’s about giving the wounded soldier a sense of self-esteem and self-worth through clothing,” Rubinstein said of Project Wardrobe. “Clothing is so much more than just what I wear. It can heal you. It can rehabilitate you and give you the strength to move forward.”

“To me, Elie’s clothing is like a suit of armor,” added Rzyczycki. “It demonstrates power and showing that you can be confident and powerful in what you wear. And all of the clothing that Elie has, his designs, has always been focused on that. He is a really powerful beacon to demonstrate how clothing can provide power to women.”

Rzyczycki also talked to The Algemeiner about the decision to have STU host the fashion show and collaborate in efforts to support Israeli soldiers.

“It’s all about educating my students on the power that fashion can have … For me, as an educator I think it’s important for me to tell my students about doing things that are bigger than ourselves,” she explained. “I think it’s really important for my students to be able to understand some of the philanthropic efforts that go into fashion. And this event really embodies that – being able to give back and also do things that have a bigger purpose revolving around fashion.”

“Fashion can be a unifier for all religions, all different ways of life, to be able to provide education and camaraderie,” she added. “I think we’re teaching our students valuable lessons on the power that fashion can have in that language and delivering that to people.”

A day before the runway show, Tahari and Rubenstein hosted a fashion masterclass for STU students in the fashion merchandising and design program, where the designer discussed the fashion business but also the combination of faith and fashion.

See below photos from Tahari’s “Threads of Valor” fashion show.

Photo: Threads of Valor

Photo: Threads of Valor

Photo: Threads of Valor

Photo: Threads of Valor

Photo: Threads of Valor