Pnina Tornai

Pnina Tornai (Hebrew: פנינה טורנה‎; born November 25, 1962) is an Israeli fashion and wedding dress designer, reality and daytime TV personality. Tornai has made a name for herself by being featured with her wedding gowns on TLC's reality television show Say Yes to the Dress that airs in over 145 countries worldwide. With stores around the world and a lot of media attention, Tornai today is a social media star and is considered as a lifestyle expert. For the last decade Tornai has been the top seller at Kleinfeld Bridal.[1]

Pnina Tornai
פנינה טורנה
Tornai in 2008
Born (1962-11-25) November 25, 1962
Israel
OccupationFashion designer, reality and daytime television personality
Known forStarring on TLC's Say Yes to the Dress and on American daytime television
Websitepninatornai.com

Personal Life

Pnina Tornai was born in Israel, to Sephardic Jewish parents Shaul and Ruth Assis[2]; she is the oldest of four girls. Tornai was given the name Pearl at birth, which is her grandmother's name. In Hebrew, Pearl translates to Pnina, thus she was called Pnina.[2] Her father was an Israeli diplomat from Alexandria, Egypt, and her mother was from Tangier, Morocco. As a child, Tornai dreamed of being an actress, but instead went on to finish her high school education. Upon graduating, she enlisted in Israel's mandatory military service. Once she completed her military service Tornai decided to pursue her acting career by enrolling in acting school in Paris, France.[1] There she married and had her son David.[3]

In addition to a decade of her guest star appearances and television specials for the long-running Say Yes to the Dress[4] Tornai stars in several other television shows internationally including 10 Years Younger. She has also contributed to segments on ABC News Good Morning America, on What Would You Do? [5] and on VH1.[6]

Tornai appeared on the Israeli version of the reality television show Big Brother VIP in 2009.[7] She is also a gourmet cook and appeared on the reality TV show MasterChef VIP in 2015. Tornai has a love for entertaining, she is an avid gardener and a collector of vintage couture fashion - a passion she developed while living in Paris for ten years.

Career

After Tornai's time in Paris, she returned to Israel with her son. She opened a small store in Tel Aviv, with only one seamstress to help her.[8] The two began creating day and evening gowns.[1] Tornai began making wedding dresses in 1992, when a woman asked if she could make her a wedding dress that mirrored an evening gown that she had seen in the shop window. Tornai accepted the challenge, and when the woman got married, the photo of their wedding made the front page of an Israeli newspaper. When other brides-to-be saw the picture, they came to Tornai asking if she could replicate the dress, which then launched her career. Tornai turned her store into a wedding dress salon.[1]

In 2005, Tornai first showed her dresses to Kleinfeld Bridal, but her designs were initially rejected by the famous bridal salon for being too sexy.[1] Tornai did not give up, and slightly altered her dresses and returned a while later. When she returned, one of her dresses caught the eye of many, and she soon became one of Kleinfled's wedding dress designers.[9] [10][11] A Pnina Tornai bridal boutique was then opened in-store for Tornai's dresses. After only two years she became the store's top vendor. Tornai is the only designer to have her own boutique within Kleinfeld.[1] Women from all over the world travelled to meet with Tornai at her boutique inside Kleinfeld, New York.[12] Tornai takes personal interest in each and every one of her brides, and feels truly honored to be dressing them on the most important day of their lives.[13]

Tornai now spends two weeks out of every month in New York City, where she meets with clients to help make the dress of their dreams [14] and also holds monthly trunk shows.[15] Although she has hired seamstresses since the start, she still has a say in every dress that is sold. Along with visiting the New York City store, she spends the rest of her time traveling and visiting her other stores. Her creations are sold around the world, including the United States, Canada, Bahamas, Israel, Italy, Greece, Germany, Croatia, Angola, South Korea, and China.

Much of Tornai’s design inspiration comes from her travels to exotic places where she takes in new cultures and beautiful surroundings, and is able to "see things differently, as though I am experiencing them for the very first time."

Tornai includes her family in her business; her husband, David Levinshtein,[1] is her business manager; her sister, Kochav, is her makeup artist;[1] and her son is her graphic designer.

Retail

Tornai creates dresses while she is dreaming .[16] She works hard to bring out the "inner princess" in every bride, which inspires the fabrics she uses and her designs.[1] After she completes the designs, her ultra-feminine wedding gowns are hand sewn using fabrics directly imported from Europe. Tornai's signature body-hugging corsets are embellished with Swarovski crystals and precious stones. According to The New York Times, Tornai's dresses are considered "vixenish".[9] Her passion for design was inspired by her Moroccan mother and Egyptian father who exposed her to elaborate cultural ceremonies and celebrations from a young age. Her love for beauty and intricate details grew into a desire to create gowns that reflected her unique heritage and today she has a line of dresses that are specialized for religious Jewish and Muslim brides. She made a customized red dress for an Indian bride who wanted a traditional Indian dress.

Tornai does her best to meet the needs of the customer, which is reflected in many episodes of Say Yes to the Dress [4] .[17]

The Pnina Tornai product line has expanded to include footwear, accessories, headpieces, jewelry and fragrance, all befitting the brand’s couture aesthetic .[18] She recently added evening gowns to her collection, and also designs kaftans, which closely represents her heritage.

Collections

New collections are shown at international bridal fairs and bridal fashion shows [19] [20] .[21] The lines are also shown in bridal magazines.

Tornai's 2016 runway collection was shot in the dry desert where water is most needed. This collection is an ode to water, the way it flows and intertwines with wind and sand to create new spirit and energy. Inspired by how wind moves water, creating breathtaking reflections of light, and how waves break and fluff as they hit the sand. Tornai has combined water-like crystals, coral lace, wavy ruffles and water-like pearls to mimic the magic of wind upon water. From flowing chiffons, to dripping water-like details and coral-inspired lace, each gown's details echo the elemental rhythm of the world. Beginning again, in a new decade, with this collection represents her resolve to re-energize and empower the environment.

Tornai's 2012 collection featured gowns made of silk, satin, lace and were topped with pearls and jewels. Tornai used pearls because she recalled that her late mother and grandmother always wore pearls when they left the house.[12] After the passing of her mother, a friend helped her through her grief by comparing tears to pearls, thus the idea for that collection emerged. The collection was based on tears of joy, which translates to pearls of joy for a bride on her wedding day.[2]

Tornai's 2008 bridal collection was infused with floral designs on the corsets, silk pantsuits, and spaghetti-strapped dress that had scalloped hemlines. All of these dresses were inspired by the love song "La Vie en rose" by Édith Piaf.

Tornai’s clients include royalty, celebrities and pop icons. Eva Bryan, NASCAR driver Kurt Busch's wife, sported a Pnina Tornai wedding gown at their wedding .[22] Good Morning America's meteorologist, Ginger Zee said "I do" to her NBC News correspondent fiancé Ben Aaron with a Pnina Tornai dress.[23] Real Housewife and actress NeNe Leakes remarried her husband wearing a Pnina Tornai wedding gown covered in hundreds of Swarovski crystals.[24] Danielle Deleasa Jonas, celebrated six-year wedding anniversary with her husband Kevin Jonas, a member of the Jonas Brothers, wearing a Pnina Tornai evening dress.[11]

Several movies and television shows have mentioned Tornai's works. Singer Ashanti wore a Pnina Tornai dress on MTV's TRL.[25] Kim Cattrall wore Tornai's wedding dress in the movie Sex and the City 2 .[26]

Tornai’s gowns have been photographed and featured in publications such as People Magazine,[10][11][23] The New York Times Fashion & Style Magazine,[9] Fashion Wire Daily,[12] Women's Wear Daily (WWD) Fashion Magazine,[15] Glamour Magazine,[18] Talking with Tami.[24]

She has been interviewed by The Huffington Post Canada Style Magazine,[14] by Fox News at Fox & Friends TV show,[17] by Fox Business ,[27] by Fox News Radio[16] and by ABC News.[5][21]

Her work has been seen on television in many episodes of TLC’s Say Yes to the Dress [4] [13] and on the fifth episode of the Love & Hip Hop Live web series "Yandy & Mendeecees Are Getting Married!" on VH1.[6]

gollark: Can we use greek letters instead? They're cooler.
gollark: Probably something for a startup to consider making.
gollark: In that case, we need a turing metaoracle to solve turing oracle+TMs.
gollark: Well, install cbatticon, and run that on LXDE start.
gollark: There's also a Rust program called battop.

References
  1. Kadesh, Avigayil (8 May 2011). "Every bride wants a Pnina Tornai". mfa.gov.il website. Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Retrieved 2 November 2011.
  2. Kleinfeld Blog (4 November 2011). "Pearl's are a girl's best friend". kleinfeldbridal.com. Retrieved 9 November 2011.
  3. "Pnina Tornai Biography". imdb.com. Retrieved 9 November 2011.
  4. Say Yes to the Dress. "Best of Pnina Tornai". TLC. Retrieved 16 February 2016.
  5. ABC News (8 July 2014). "Pnina Tornai Appears On 'What Would You Do?'". ABC News. Retrieved 15 February 2016.
  6. Carroll, Shirea L. (20 May 2015). "Love & Hip Hop Live: The Wedding – Get A First Glimpse At Yandy's Wedding Dress Choices". VH1. Retrieved 15 February 2016.
  7. Harkov, Lahav (20 March 2012). "'Big Brother' contestants testify over scandal". The Jerusalem Post. Retrieved 20 March 2012.
  8. Leichman, Abigail (11 May 2011). "And the bride wore...a Pnina Tornai dress". israel21c.org. Retrieved 10 November 2011.
  9. La Ferla, Ruth (21 February 2008). "The Bride Wore Very Little". The New York Times. Retrieved 10 November 2011.
  10. People style (2 September 2015). "How Amy Purdy Chose Her 'Angelic' Wedding Dress (EXCLUSIVE PHOTOS)". People. Archived from the original on 6 February 2016. Retrieved 15 February 2016.
  11. People style (23 December 2015). "Danielle Jonas Shops at Kleinfeld for Her Ultra-Glam Anniversary Gown - and Takes Us With Her". People. Archived from the original on 5 March 2016. Retrieved 15 February 2016.
  12. Goller, Simone (18 October 2011). "A Pearl: Pnina Tornai for Kleinfeld". Fashion Wire Daily. Retrieved 3 November 2011.
  13. TLC Shows. Say Yes to the Dress. About Pnina. "Pnina Tornai, Exclusive Kleinfeld Designer". TLC. Retrieved 16 February 2016.
  14. Tejada, Chloe (8 October 2014). "Pnina Tornai Talks Angelina Jolie's Wedding Dress And Who You Shouldn't Bring Gown Shopping". The Huffington Post Canada. Retrieved 15 February 2016.
  15. Feitelberg, Rosemary (12 October 2015). "Kevin Jonas, Devon Still Turn Up at Pnina Tornai". WWD. Retrieved 15 February 2016.
  16. Berger, Crystal (11 December 2015). "AFMW: Pnina Tornai, Fashion Designer and Star of Say Yes To The Dress". Fox News Radio. Retrieved 16 February 2016.
  17. Fox & Friends.Lifestyle expert from 'Say Yes to the Dress' shares advice (28 December 2015). "Tying the knot: Tips for engaged couples". Fox News. Retrieved 16 February 2016.
  18. Fusaro, Kim (19 October 2015). "New Pnina Tornai Wedding Dresses: See a Real Bride Model 6 Hot-Off-the-Runway Gowns". Glamour. Retrieved 16 February 2016.
  19. Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs (18 October 2015). "Israeli fashion designers at New York Bridal show". mfa.gov.il website. Retrieved 16 February 2016.
  20. Fox 5 (5 November 2015). "Bridal fashion show". FOX 5 NY. Retrieved 16 February 2016.
  21. Pflum, Mary (12 October 2015). "Pnina Tornai Premieres New Collection During Bridal Fashion Week". ABC News. Retrieved 16 February 2016.
  22. Player Wives (3 December 2013). "Kurt Busch's wife Eva Busch". Player Wives. Retrieved 16 February 2016.
  23. Strohm, Emily (7 June 2014). "Ginger Zee Marries Ben Aaron". People. Retrieved 16 February 2016.
  24. Reed, Tami (15 September 2013). "Spotted: NeNe Leakes in Boracci & Pnina Tornai Gown Plus SuperTrailer Released!". Talking with Tami. Retrieved 16 February 2016.
  25. Stars shine. "Ashanti". Stars shine. Retrieved 16 February 2016.
  26. Celebrity (18 September 2009). "Wedding Bells Keep Ringing For the Ladies of SATC". Popsugar. Retrieved 10 November 2011.
  27. Fox Business (18 January 2016). "Birkin a better investment than gold". Fox Business. Retrieved 16 February 2016.
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