For the past six years, my daughter and I have been models for one of the most powerful events for women in our community and beyond: Karen Michelle’s Love Your Body fashion show. This year, it’s happening on Sunday, March 26, 2023 from 10:30am-4:30pm. 

Karen created an all-inclusive fashion show that features modest, modern and elegant clothing. It also includes a shopping event with a runway representing women and girls of all ages, shapes, backgrounds, and abilities. She showcases multiple designers, and offers a full day of hair and makeup for the over 100 models that participate. The models range from 3 years old to bubbies, and include a beautiful woman in a wheelchair who always has the most gorgeous wedding gown on. The location, the Luxe Hotel on Sunset, is exquisite. Over 1,000 people come to enjoy the VIP delights, or all the free options, including the fashion show and fabulous vendors.

For the event, Karen partners with Artists For Trauma, a non-profit located in Los Angeles that is dedicated to enriching the lives of trauma patients and survivors through artistic expression and human connection.

She also has vendors that serve the needs of our Jewish community, such as holiday items for Pesach and general Judaica. The clothes that many of the designers are modeling are also for sale, and you can buy them hot off the racks.

I enjoy modeling and getting dressed up, and have been lucky to participate in Love Your Body since 2013, a year after I had my third child. It was so much fun to be pampered and enjoy a professional experience, but also just to feel good in my own skin. 

I brought my daughter in 2015 when she was almost 5 years old, and she was a bit shy. Her little cousin was there too, so I walked the runway holding their hands. The next year, I told my daughter I wanted the runway all to myself. Luckily, she likes being in the spotlight just like her mama. Some of her friends were also in the fashion show; they walked the runway together and of course, they all had a wonderful experience.

Karen says, “the fashion show and LYB event is my passion, promoting self-esteem, empowerment, and inclusivity,” and she enjoys featuring women in our community. It all started with her signature store in Pico-Robertson, and now she focuses on this amazing charity event as her passion.  

This year, Karen and Artists For Trauma will be recognizing civilian and veteran medical trauma professionals with the Karen Michelle Heart Award. The three honorees are Dr. Andrea Fineberg from Kansas City,KS / Los Angeles,  Dr. Genise Fraiman and Dr. Hengemah Monsef are both from Los Angeles.They will be honored for their outstanding contributions to the community..

She loves working with people, and now has the mazel to work with her son, Josh Halaszi, a Shalhevet graduate. He is the owner of the GlobalGreen Insurance Agency of Beverly Hills. They work as a team, serving all of the insurance needs of our community.

Whether it is family, work or our creative outlet, in our Jewish lives, we are always nurturing and expanding our minds with Torah. The Rambam, Maimonides, emphasizes the need to take care of our bodies. He was a brilliant physician who treated the patient rather than the illness and espoused moderation and disease prevention. 

I am a yoga and pilates instructor and my message is to take care of you! It is not selfish; it is self care. We need to squeeze ourselves in, in order to be there for everyone and everything in our lives. Self care could be quiet time by yourself, or a dinner with friends. For me, it is expressing my creative side with fashion and dress up.

There is no perfect way or one way — there is just your way. Someone may inspire you, but take everything at your own pace and check in with yourself.

When we tune into our body and clear our mind, then our soul is free to shine. Each person has a unique purpose in the world. There is nobody else like you and nobody will do what you can do. 

Especially for women and girls, feeling comfortable in our own skin, and knowing that true beauty comes from within, is so important. However, enjoying dressing up and feeling good on the outside is fun.  

When the last Love Your Body Fashion show was about to begin, Karen told me I was opening the show. I was so excited, and I told the makeup artist to make me shine since I am the first model everyone will see. We all have different sides to us, and I am so grateful to Karen Michelle for giving my daughter and I and many other women an outlet of fashion and fun for a good cause.

Free tickets for the event are still available by going to lyb2023.eventbrite.com.