Six months after canceling her bridal-gown show in the wake of the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attacks, Israeli fashion designer Galia Lahav returned to the runway ready to triumph over hate.
Lahav — who created Paris Hilton’s wedding dress and has designed looks for the Kardashians and Beyoncé — showed her Spring 2025 collection in Soho last Thursday, months after vitriolic commenters tried to shut her down.
“It’s all about beauty and happiness — that’s what fashion means to me,” Lahav, 76, told The Post.
Last October 10, on the first day of New York’s Bridal Fashion Week, Lahav and a slew of other Israeli designers — including Lihi Hod, Berta and Arava Polak — canceled their shows following the Hamas attacks in Israel.
While some members of Lahav’s design team were already in New York on October 7, prepping for the runway show, others were in Tel Aviv, where the brand is headquartered — unable to fly out and emotionally ill-equipped.
“It was devastating,” Sharon Sever, head designer for the Galia Lahav brand, told The Post.
On October 11, Lahav — a descendant of Holocaust survivors born in the Soviet Union — shared a personal post with her 2.4 million followers on Instagram.
“My father lost his children, his first wife, his sister while fighting as a partisan against the Nazis, and my mother lost all of her family as well,” she wrote.
“The State of Israel was established after a UN vote. My father smuggled Jews from the Soviet Union to Israel, as they realized that this was the Jews’ rightful place; we had NO OTHER HOME,” she wrote.
Lahav’s family, she posted, “moved to Israel with the assurance that the Holocaust would not happen again. The world had promised us.”
While the post was met with support from fans and fellow bridal companies, it also triggered a slew of anti-Israel comments.
“Shame on you!” someone wrote.
“It is wild that you openly acknowledge you settled on land which isn’t where you come from … yet claim to be the victim?” another commenter posted.
Others vowed to unfollow Lahav and boycott her dresses.
“This post is pathetic for even suggesting the land is rightfully yours,” read one comment
Another person responded: “ … you’re killing innocent people on a daily basis in order to take over their land and homes. There was never peace.”
Sever told The Post Lahav is staying strong, despite the continued hate messages.
“Galia is an extremely strong woman … comments are just comments,” he said.
Sever told The Post long time clients and celebrities have shown an outpouring of support.
Among the stars the brand has designed for is Jennifer Lopez, who required more than two dozen copies of the same puff-sleeve wedding dress for the 2022 comedy “Shotgun Wedding.”
“We had to shut down production for a month and work on this,” Sever said.
Last Thursday, the Lahav production team celebrated the brand’s much anticipated return to the runway with “The Stunners,” a collection inspired by the pre-Raphaelite era.
“Each gown celebrates the beauty of growth, romance and the timeless elegance that transcends through generations,” Lahav told The Post.
Apparently, the mood was contagious. During Thursday’s presentation, model Erica Honing’s boyfriend stepped onto the runway, dropped to one knee and asked her to marry him.
Said Lahav: “Witnessing a spontaneous proposal … was a heartwarming reminder that magic happens when you least expect it.”
