Avi Tenzer

Avi Tenzer is a fashion designer who marketed his eponymous brand of women’s ready-to-wear in the 1980s and 1990s. His bold creations targeted women who wanted to stand out for their style without overspending. By the year 1995, his line was sold at over 300 retailers in Canada and the United States, including Simons, The Bay, Barneys New York, Saks Fifth Avenue and Bergdorf Goodman.

Born in Israel, Avi Tenzer studied costume design for theatre and film at Tel Aviv University from 1972 to 1976. He followed this with training in fashion design at a school affiliated with the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York City. Returning to Israel in 1976, he was hired by fashion retailer Castro, where he worked for two years. After meeting the founder of Le Château at a Paris fashion show, he was asked to be the Quebec chain’s head designer, a job he held from 1980 to 1986.

He left Le Château to found Tenzer Design and Development, a company that developed its market through successive partnerships with various Montreal retailers and manufacturers. For example, Avi Tenzer designed exclusive collections under the label Tenzer pour la ville for a clothing, accessories and shoes concept store called B.A.C.C. created by the ALDO Group in Quebec City’s Place Ste-Foy in 1989.

Established on Hutchison Street, in 1991 he joined forces with Paris Sportswear to design a women’s fashion line for department stores, as well as a second line of knits, workwear and sportswear under the Tenzer label, for North American distribution. At its height, Avi Tenzer’s company employed a staff of some forty people.

Avi Tenzer has been the creative and design director of the ALDO Group, a footwear manufacturer, since 2010.

He also designs furniture for CDI Furniture. In addition to these activities, he continues to take on occasional orders for high-end couture. In fact, one of his dresses was displayed at the Museum of the Jewish People in Tel Aviv as part of a 2014 exhibition on internationally known Jewish fashion designers. The exhibition also featured outfits from Ralph Lauren, Michael Kors, Marc Jacobs and Diane Von Furstenberg.