Business

Designer Elie Tahari fires nearly all top executives at his label

Luxury fashion designer Elie Tahari has gone on the offensive, firing most of his senior execs and hiring a former Israeli army officer to carry out his orders. The casualties include the company’s creative director, operating chief, chief financial officer and general counsel.

Luxury fashion designer Elie Tahari has gone on the offensive, firing most of his senior execs and hiring a former Israeli army officer to carry out his orders. The casualties include the company’s creative director, operating chief, chief financial officer and general counsel. (Getty Images)

There’s a war raging in fashion, and Elie Tahari isn’t taking any prisoners.

The New York designer — whose togs are a staple at upscale stores including Saks Fifth Avenue, Bloomingdale’s and Bergdorf Goodman — has recently fired nearly all of the top executives at his label, sources told The Post.

Reached yesterday, Tahari officials confirmed the bloodbath, admitting the 59-year-old designer lately hasn’t been happy with the direction of the brand, which has annual revenue of more than $500 million.

“He wanted to build the company into a global powerhouse, and he thought he needed to make a few changes,” Scott Currie, vice president of communications, marketing and advertising, told The Post.

Tahari began swinging the ax late last year, when a tiff over the company’s fall 2012 collection spurred the ouster of creative director Kobi Halperin, sources said.

Since then, casualties have included the chief operating officer, chief financial officer, general counsel, president of wholesale, head of human resources and Halperin’s wife, who held a position in operations, according to sources.

In what some insiders saw as a theatrical display of ruthlessness, the Israeli-born designer hired an ex-Israeli army officer to do the firings, sources said. “There was this tough guy going around doing the dirty work, telling people they were leaving,” said one source.

Indeed, some former execs said Tahari has been susceptible to bouts of paranoid behavior, looking at employees’ e-mail in addition to purging their ranks. “He goes through these periods where he thinks everybody’s out to get him,” said one former exec.

Tahari began chopping heads after returning from a retreat where he practiced Kabbalah, a form of Jewish mysticism, according to one source. “His perspective on things seemed to have changed after he got back from that trip,” the source said.

Tahari fired a design team over a flopped denim project, and consulted with retail partners, concluding stores were being flooded with undistinguished goods, sources said.

“I was concerned about markdowns on the floor,” said Ron Frasch, president of Saks Fifth Avenue. “They needed to tighten up the amount of inventory.”

Asked about Tahari’s recent housecleaning, Frasch admitted the designer “probably did it a little more aggressively than I would have expected, but in terms of defining the brand, I think he did the right thing.”

Some insiders said the company remains mired in chaos as Tahari still has yet to replace most of the fired execs. Still, retailers insist they’re not concerned.

“Elie’s a survivor,” said Frank Doroff, vice chairman at Bloomingdale’s. “I’ve seen him when his business is good, I’ve seen him when his business is bad, and he always comes through.