Tears and cheers at GIFT’s 2026 Beyond the Label inclusive fashion show

Now in its fifth year, Beyond the Label was the brainchild of Adina Rosenstein – then a student at Hasmonean girls – who developed the idea as part of the GIFT charity incubator project led by their programme director Shira Joseph.

Jordy Rabbie and her mother Tami on the catwalk (Photo: GIFT)[Missing Credit]

A lover of fashion – she has since gone on to study costume design the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama – Adina felt disenchanted with the toxic beauty standards she saw in the industry, and Beyond the Label was her way to channel something altogether more positive, by empowering Jewish women of all ages, sizes, abilities and backgrounds.

This year, 30 inspiring Jewish women and girls took to the catwalk. Ranging in age from six to 96, they strutted and skipped, danced and cartwheeled down the runway in a suitably eclectic range of outfits – from evening dresses to activewear – to the rapturous applause of the 400-odd women in the audience.

It’s impossible to call out everyone – which feels wrong, as all 30 models deserve to be celebrated and have their stories heard – but if I was pushed to choose, I’d say the outfit of the night was worn by 11-year-old Jordy Rabbie, who took to the catwalk with her mother Tami.

Before hitting the catwalk we were told that Jordy, who is non-verbal and needed a tracheostomy at birth, says "the hole in her throat is just part of what makes her her". Her indomitable spirit, which I would hasten to guess she inherited from her mother, was perfectly reflected in her outfit of sparkly silver boots, metallic silver trousers and a pink hoodie by Studd Gabby Harris embellished with smiley-faced flowers, multi-coloured rhinestones and the word “Happiness”.

Other memorable looks included Chana Sufrin, founder of modest fashion label House of Lancry, who walked down the catwalk with her daughter Rosie wearing a tailored black coat with a star of David and the phrase “Am Yisrael Chai” emblazoned on the back in Hebrew, and Lottie Cannon – a young woman, and occasional JC contributor, who spoke very movingly about overcoming anorexia – who wore an incredibly pretty By Malina number from occasion dress rental service Archival Gowns.

Mala Tribich MBE received a standing ovation as she walked down the runway (Photo: GIFT)[Missing Credit]

The biggest cheer of the night? That’s hard to say. But I can tell you that the crowd rose to their feet for 96-year-old Holocaust survivor Mala Tribich MBE, who walked down the runway with her good friend Fanny Weil.

And as for the tears – well they were courtesy of Sophia Ziff, who moved the whole room with a speech detailing how her “brave little Luna” – the beautifully vibrant six-year-old by her side, wearing a pale blue princess dress – had so courageously dealt with the passing of her baby sister Celine, who succumbed to a rare and aggressive form of cancer last summer just 19 days after her first birthday.

While the official theme of the show was GLOW, the mood of the night was sisterhood. Opening the show in a stunning red evening gown, Adina told the crowd: “In a world where beauty standards ae constantly changing, I want to share the Beyond the Label mindset to remind every Jewish woman that she doesn’t need to fit a mould or wait for anyone to take up space.

“True confidence comes from within; beyond the label on the clothes, beyond the label on our bodies, beyond the assumptions we make about other people, and beyond what we think we're capable of ourselves.”

Now that’s a message every Jewish woman deserves to hear.