Isaac Mizrahi Speaks Out on Creativity and Mental Health: Meet the Fashion Icon at Jung Center Benefit
Mar. 20, 2023
YOU MIGHT BE forgiven if you never considered a connection between fashion designer Isaac Mizrahi and The Jung Center, an institution offering hundreds of public classes rooted in analytical psychology, the expressive arts, and the humanities, as well as programs designed to support those who work directly with suffering and trauma.
But in conversation with Mizrahi, whose wicked sense of humor speaks to a deep intellect matched with the street smarts of a Brooklyn-born New Yorker, it’s clear how much he values living a transformative, creative life while taking care of one’s mental health.
“Isaac knows who he is, and that knowledge was hard-won,” says Jung Center Executive Director Sean Fitzpatrick. “His story reflects the power of creativity and being rigorously honest about what is most difficult in our lives.” On Mar. 28, at the River Oaks Country Club, Mizrahi will share his story and more as the featured speaker at The Jung Center’s Spring Benefit.
Born in 1961, Mizrahi grew up Jewish, chubby, and gay in a Syrian Orthodox community — a culture that was more than a little suspicious of his burgeoning artistic interests, which included singing along to Barbara Streisand records (until his voice changed) and producing elaborately staged puppet shows in his family’s garage. As a child, Mizrahi attended Yeshivah of Flatbush, a repressive, fear-inducing environment, where he experienced panic attacks that had him writhing on the floor, screaming his lungs out. Not long after the 6-year-old Mizrahi plunged a steak knife into the tire of a school bus, the powers that be at the yeshiva told his mother to take her son to a psychiatrist, or he would be suspended permanently. Thankfully, for Mizrahi, therapy turned out to be a lifeline.
“I grew to love it,” says Mizrahi, who has continued with therapy ever since, and is loath to compare the process with how it is portrayed on reality TV shows. “The very essence of therapy is honesty and privacy,” says Mizrahi. “It’s not about talking about how your brand isn’t performing the way it should.”
Given the dizzying range of Mizrahi’s creative ventures, from launching his critically acclaimed fashion label in 1987 to hosting a popular TV talk show to returning to his music and acting roots as a cabaret singer and storyteller, it’s telling that he pauses a moment when asked if creating art is good for one’s mental health.
“It’s both really good, and really awful,” says Mizrahi. That said, he does believe making art provides great lessons in how to recover from one’s missteps. “As an artist, you instinctually understand how to take whatever concept we have of personal failure and make something out of it,” says Mizrahi. “And you are never bored. Even in a room under lock and key, if someone throws in a pencil and paper, you’re going to do something with it!”
Speaking of never being bored, last summer, Mizrahi was thrilled to be honored by another Houston institution, the one and only Beyoncé Giselle Knowles-Carter, who name-checks “House of Mizrahi” in the remix of her song, “Break My Soul.” “My darling, I feel seen,” says Mizrahi of the shout-out. Not surprisingly, he describes Queen Bey’s boundary-pushing artistry in very Jungian language. “There’s something about her work that speaks to this kind of inner journey,” says Mizrahi. “It’s not just a surface thing. You can plummet as deeply as you want, and there’s always something in it.”
And as the good people of The Jung Center will attest, the “House of Mizrahi” offers a similar trip for those willing to take the plunge.
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THE CULTURE AND traditions of Japan were celebrated in grand style at the recent Tiger Ball, Asia Society Texas’ gala, an annual high point of the spring social calendar. This year’s tented dinner, chaired by Julie and John Cogan and Sylvia and Gordon Quan, and with décor featuring live cherry blossom trees, raised more than $1.5 million.
The evening began with special moments for VIPs and event organizers, including a surprise cakes with sparklers to mark the 50th anniversary of the ball’s honorees — community leaders Kathy and Glen Gondo.
“As the 575 guests arrived, they were welcomed by drummers from Kaminari Taiko and then transported to springtime Japan upon entering the Gala Pavilion decorated lavishly by Prashe Décor,” explained a rep for Asia Society. “Pink Japanese parasols floated enchantingly over the dance floor, and guests dined beneath trees laden with cherry blossoms. Magnificent floral sculptures featuring roses, snapdragons, tulips, and more cherry blossoms graced each table, enhancing the experience of a fantastical dinner in Kyoto on the cusp of spring.”
The menu, always a gourmet treat at the Tiger Ball, this year featured, during cocktail hour, yakitori-style grilled beef tenderloin skewers, a lobster sunomono salad on endive, curried chicken fritters with plum sauce, and a lavish sushi spread. Dinner by City Kitchen featured seared miso-glazed sea bass with curried rainbow baby carrots and sesame-sauteed sugar snap peas with ginger.
Amy Takashima and Cynthia Tran (photo by Emily Jaschke)
Robert, Jaewon, Kathy and Glen Gondo
Victor Lee and Livy Yang (photo by Emily Jaschke)
Anne and Albert Chao (photo by Daniel Ortiz)
Kenneth and Janae Tsai (photo byEmily Jaschke)
Jay Jones, Margaret Alkek Williams, and Terry Wayne Jone (photo by Daniel Ortiz)
Peter and Theresa Chang (photo by Emily Jaschke)
Duyen and Marc Nguyen (photo by Daniel Ortiz)
Ravi Purohit and Pooja Goradia (photo by Daniel Ortiz)
Sushi chef at work
Arshad and Shazma Matin (photo by Daniel Ortiz)
Marty Goossen and Lacey Goossen (photo by Daniel Ortiz)
Y. Ping Sun and David Leebron (photo by Daniel Ortiz)
Kathy Goossen and Maria-Anna Galitzine, Archduchess of Austria (photo by Daniel Ortiz)
Tripp Carter and Nancy Allen (photo by Emily Jaschke)
Inside the Tiger Ball tent (photo by Daniel Ortiz)
A tablescape at Tiger Ball
Sushila and Durga Agrawal (photo by Daniel Ortiz)
Tina Zulu and Petra Martinez (photo by Emily Jaschke)
Shiang Ling and George Yang (photo by Daniel Ortiz)
Kevin and Sabria Lewis (photo by Daniel Ortiz)
Omana and Samuel Abraham (photo by Emily Jaschke)
Eddie Allen and Chinhui Juhn and Melanie Lawson and John Guess (photo by Daniel Ortiz)
VIPs in the crowd included Divya & Chris Brown, Tripp Carter, Anne and Albert Chao, Molly and James Crownover, Lily and Charles Foster, Robert & Jaewon Gondo, Jay Jones, Melanie Lawson and John Guess, Duyen & Marc Nguyen, David Ruiz, Leigh and Reggie Smith, Y. Ping Sun and David Leebron, and Margaret Alkek Williams, as well as hononary chairs Chinhui and Eddie Allen, Theresa and Peter Chang, Donna Fujimoto Cole, and Aurora and Hirofumi Murabayashi.
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