Isaac Mizrahi was born on 14 October 1961, in Brooklyn, New York City USA, to mother Sarah, a homemaker, and father Zeke Mizrahi, who worked in the clothing industry. He is a fashion designer, TV presenter and actor.
So how rich is Isaac Mizrahi at present? Sources state that Mizrahi’s net worth is as high as $20 million, as of early 2016. His wealth has been earned during his career as a fashion designer as well as through his many television performances.
Isaac Mizrahi Net Worth $20 Million
Mizrahi grew up in a Syrian Jewish community in Ocean Parkway, New Jersey; in his early childhood, his family moved to Brooklyn. As his mother was a devoted fashion lover, so Mizrahi became aware of fashion at an early age. He was a great lover of movies and found a huge inspiration in the 1961 version of “Back Street”, admiring the fashion glamour shown in the movie. After his father bought him a sewing machine when Mizrahi was ten years old, he started to design pieces of clothes. Mizrahi attended Yeshivas of Flatbush school in Mitwood, and then the High School of the Performing Arts in Manhattan, while designing clothes under his own label called IS New York, with the help of his mother’s friend Sarah Haddad, who financed the label. When her husband got sick, she was unable to finance Mizrahi’s work anymore, which resulted in IS New York shutting down. Mizrahi then enrolled in Parson’s School of Design in 1979.
Mizrahi worked for Perry Ellis, Jeffrey Banks and Calvin Klein before he opened his own company in 1987, again with the help of Haddad. His first collections earned high praise from fashion editors and Mizrahi’s net worth started to rise. He quickly became a sensation, winning three CDFA awards and being named best designer of 1990 by the Fashion Footwear Association of New York, and included in the annual “40 Under 40” award by Crain’s New York Business. Chanel bought a stake in his company, and sponsored its operations, as Mizrahi’s collections became favorite with celebrities such as Nicole Kidman, Sarah Jessica Parker, Julia Roberts and Natalie Portman. The company faced ups and downs, however, as being unable to establish the “Mizrahi Look” worked against the young designer. Although his company grossed between $10-20 million a year, it failed to earn profits which resulted in Chanel’s pulling financing in 1998 and the company was soon closed.
However, Mizrahi’s talent was filmed by the director Douglas Keeve who used it to create a documentary “Unzipped” in 1995, portraying the hard work and success of the designer. The documentary won the Audience Award at the Sundance Film Festival in 1995. Mizrahi’s popularity and recognition became even more prominent and the documentary added a considerable amount to his net worth.
In 1997 Mizrahi published his book “Isaac Mizrahi Presents the Adventures of Sandee the Supermodel” consisting of three separate comic books portraying the struggles of a beautiful girl in the world of fashion.
During the 2000s, Mizrahi designed low-priced collections in partnership with Target, as well as another expensive collections called Isaac Mizrahi to Order. In 2009 he designed for Liz Claiborne, and the following year he launched his new label called IsaacMizrahiLIVE!, which he later sold to Xcel Brands, lifting his wealth once again. Mizrahi also designed costumes for various movies, theatre, dance and opera productions.
In the meantime, he found a new form of self-expression, creating a male cabaret act about the fashion business with classic songs from Broadway musicals, altering the lyrics to fit his life. He also became the host of his own television talk show on cable’s Oxygen Network. In 2005 he hosted the “Isaac” show on Style Network. Mirzahi made a number of guest appearances in television series, such as “Sex and the City”, “Spin City”, “Ugly Betty”, “The Apprentice, “Gossip Girl” and “The Big C” as well as on a public radio show “Wait, Wait, Don’t Tell Me. He also appeared in movies such as “Men in Black”, “Small Time Crocks”, “Hollywood Ending” and “Celebrity”. He appeared as a co-host in Bravo’s “The Fashion Show” in 2009 and 2010, and two years later as a head judge in “Project Runway: All Stars”. He often appears in various E!’ programs and shows. All his television work significantly contributes to his net worth.
In his personal life, Mizrani has been married to Arnold Germer since 2011.
