Elie Tahari has the look of love

Elie Tahari is in love. No, not with himself, like other fashion designers. He’s in love with his wife, Rory, and from the moment he met her on the night of his 46th birthday nine years ago, he was a changed man.

“Before that I was a mess,” he said. “I didn’t know ... that I needed love.” With the wedding ring, he also gained a creative director, a company vice chair and a muse.

The effect of love on Tahari the man, and Elie Tahari, the collection, which can be seen the new Saks Fifth Avenue boutique in Beverly Hills, became clearer when the designer met with store employees and the press last week to discuss his company’s new direction.

Unlike the serious career wear that buoyed the Elie Tahari collection to the top ranks of American fashion, the clothes have become more feminine, flirty and built to fit women’s curves. Unlike most designers who are cashing in on cheap-chic knockoffs of their own looks, Elie Tahari is moving upscale.

In addition to the tailored separates that outfit ranks of working women, Tahari has embraced embellishment and luxury. The collection, designed in New York and Italy, now includes such romantic items as sheer beribboned blouses, all-over embroidered tunics and lace boleros. Prices have edged up some — $270 for a skirt, $198 for a knit dress, $500 for a lace bolero — but given the handwork, fabrics and details, they’re a comparative value.

The Saks in-store boutique — at the rear of the fourth floor, enveloped in sweet white and neutral elegance (glittering chandeliers, softly illuminated shelving, Baroque tables enameled in white, dressing rooms in neutral greens) — is the largest among Tahari’s 600 shops.

In September, Saks will stage a grand opening. “We have big plans for Elie,” said Larry Bruce, Saks’ general manager.

The retailer also is studying its adjacent Wilshire Boulevard men’s store for a way to showcase Tahari’s new menswear collection, which marked its second season this spring.