Cover Story

A Family Affair

Fashions from Izzy Maternity allow pregnant women to dress cool and stylish.

Photo courtesy Izzy Maternity.

By: Ann Marie Quill

Israel Vahaba started his career in Israel in the fashion industry when he was 3 years old.

Photo by Marcy Levinson

Hannah Vahaba recently joined her father, Israel Vahaba, as marketing director of his maternity clothing company.

Photo by Duane Stork

Photo by Marcy Levinson

Photo by Marcy Levinson

"I remember being on my knees for my mother who was a dressmaker to do hems so she didn't have to bend her knees," he says one recent morning in his Alpharetta clothing boutique before it has opened for the day to customers.

"It got to the point where all I was talking about was fashion," Vahaba says of growing up in a small town near Tel Aviv. "I dressed funky as a child. I was much ahead of the time."

However, when he finished eighth grade, a counselor suggested he go to agriculture school. "In boarding school, I was missing fashion but found myself helping with costumes for school plays. I became a costume maker, which kept me in touch with creativity."

Later, when Vahaba entered the army, he still kept in touch with his fashion sense. "Even my uniform was crisp. I didn't look like a regular soldier, but a model soldier," he says. I would dress my sister and friends. I became the fashion police for my girlfriends. Even today people call me for personal shopping. I have a very good eye. I can look at a person and tell their size. I know what areas to flatter and what to cover so they will not be self-conscious."

After Vahaba married, he moved to Atlanta in the 1970s, where he worked at a men's clothing store. When his wife, Barbara, who has worked at the Marcus Jewish Community Center for more than 20 years, was expecting a baby, he recognized a need in the maternity clothing industry for fashions that would celebrate pregnancies rather than cover them up. And Izzy Maternity was born.

"At one time, women were ashamed of their changing bodies and would cover themselves up with more layers, like jumpers with shirts underneath. Today, the fashion is more tailored. Women like to show off their baby bump and figure," says Vahaba, who works closely with maternity fashion designers to keep his customers ahead of the previous year's trends.

Vahaba has now been in the maternity clothing business for more than 20 years with stores at Perimeter and Gwinnett Place malls before moving to North Point mall in Alpharetta. Earlier this year, Vahaba moved his store across the street from the mall to North Point Village, an upscale open air shopping center that he says gives Izzy Maternity more of a boutique feel.

And now, with the help of his daughter Hannah, who in February joined her father's company as marketing director, Vahaba plans to expand his business by opening another boutique in Buckhead in March. His son, Joseph, plans to join the company soon, too. Vahaba says he would not have been able to expand his business without the help of his children. Hannah earned a public relations degree from UGA, and is currently working on a graduate degree at Mercer, where she used her father's store as one of her projects, and is directly applying some of the principles she's learned to Izzy Maternity.

She launched a successful campaign that landed the boutique on the pages of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and Jezebel magazine.

"I never really thought my daughter would join me," Vahaba says. "I was hoping, but I wanted it to be from her. She has prepared herself in school to do what would complement the store's needs. It's because of her vision that I have chosen to grow."

For more information, visit www.izzymaternityclothes.com.

Full Fashion

Izzy Maternity prides itself on offering a casual, work and evening wear that fits all sizes and shapes. A sampling of fashions that can be found at Izzy:

Aimee Manchir was one of the Izzy Maternity customers who served as models during the boutique's holiday preview fashion showin November.

Photo by Stuart Hasson

Bonnie Chandler, Natasha Warren, Kyra Hatter, Stephanie Lorenz, Ali Love and Candace Ramsey pose for the camera before their modeling debut.

Photo by Stuart Hasson

Amber Hardy struts the Izzy runway.

Photo by Ann Marie Quill

Heather Henn, Amber Hardy and Aimee Manchir show off evening lace looks at Izzy's holiday fashion show.

Photo by Stuart Hasson

Left: Bonnie Chandler works the runway in evening wear available at Izzy Maternity.

Right: Fashions at Izzy include: A Lauren Kiyomi lacy top great for casual or evening wear, $94.98;

left: a simple fit-and-flair Maternal America microfiber dress with a sexy neckline and pleats around the belly, $128.98;

right: a two-piece suit by Olian that is great for tall women and sophisticated yet comfortable, $198.98;

left: a strapless lace dress with a floral print by Olian, $128.98;

right: an Olian fitted tunic expands as the belly grows, $72.98. Photos courtesy Lauren Kiyomi, Maternal America and Olian.