Youngstown State University students recently met Elie Tahari

Staff report

YOUNGSTOWN

Youngstown State University fashion merchandising students recently met Elie Tahari, who started the Tahari clothing company 45 years ago.

YSU fashion students visit designer showrooms and corporate offices so they can network for internships twice a year. In the most recent October trip, students visited Iranian Israeli designer Tahari in New York.

Students received career advice, said Jennifer Frank, YSU fashion merchandising professor.

“It’s like meeting Calvin Klein or Ralph Lauren,” Frank said. “He was so humble and so nice and just to be in the presence of someone like that is unbelievable. We were all amazed and felt so blessed and honored someone like him took the time to come talk to students and give advice and answer questions.”

Student Alyssa LaRocca said it was an honor meeting Tahari.

“He was so down to earth, and it was amazing to see how his company started and how everyone at the office has a different role, but they all come together to work as one team,” she said. “I’ve always seen his clothing in stores and never knew much about the company, but it was so cool to meet the man who designs such beautiful women’s fashion and men’s fashion. It was jaw-dropping to meet such an icon in the fashion industry as a student. It was one thing to tour the office, but to hear from the founder was something I’ll never forget.”

Fellow student Madalyn Baker echoed LaRocca’s sentiment.

“It was so cool,” she said. “I loved meeting someone who first started making a tube top from scraps and turned it into an entire fashion empire. It was a great experience, and he was such an impressive person.”

Tahari emigrated to the United States in 1971 with less than $100. Working as an electrician at a clothing boutique in the Garment District of New York City, he began designing his own clothing line after popularizing the iconic tube top in 1973. His namesake label, Tahari, launched in 1974 with a boutique located on Madison Avenue in New York City.