First Lady Melania Trump’s navy blue boater hat, Second Lady Usha Vance’s pink coat and Ivanka Trump’s Audrey Hepburn-inspired black-and-white gown made fashion headlines on Inauguration Day in the U.S. But in Israel, Dr. Miriam Adelson’s rose-gold and yellow-ribbon adorned dress at a Republican Jewish Coalition bash sent the fashionistas into overdrive.

A photo of the dress, covered in the yellow ribbons showing support for release of the hostages held in Hamas captivity, made waves in Israel after being circulated online after the event by influencer Lizzy Savetsky.

PR executive and reality-TV judge Rani Rahav posted that “the strongest woman in the world is wearing a dress with dozens of hostage symbols. An honor for Israel.” Journalist Shira Hadas Nakar gave Adelson’s dress a score of 12 — out of 10. 

Adelson’s fashion choice came following reports in Israeli media that she played a key role in getting President Donald Trump to press for a hostage release deal even before he entered office, beginning in December. 

The woman behind the dress is Tova Chasin, known in the Israeli fashion industry as “Tovale,” the name of the brand she founded in the 1980s. She now runs the label with her daughter, Naama Chasin.

Adelson prefers to showcase Israeli designers at public events, and Chasin has designed many of the billionaire philanthropist’s dresses over the decades. 

When the U.S. moved its embassy to Jerusalem in 2018, Adelson wore a Tovale design, a long white dress with drawings of the Old City of Jerusalem, the lions symbolizing the city, and the Hebrew words “If I forget thee, Jerusalem, may my right hand lose its cunning.”  

Tova Chasin told Jewish Insider that she began to design shirts with Israeli flags on them immediately after the Oct. 7 Hamas terror attacks on Israel, but Adelson’s hostage-ribbon dress was made specially for her.

All of Chasin’s designs are “very, very Israeli, very connected to the land and the Jewish people,” she said.

“I make everything with inspiration from the place where I was born, and every item has something Israeli behind it, whether the army, or family — I get all of my inspiration here, and I’m proud of it,” she said.

Chasin said she and Adelson have been friends for about 35 years.

“She has excellent taste and it is a pleasure to dress her,” Chasin said. “It all started with her love for the State of Israel, and that of her husband Sheldon. That is the connection between us, because I love the Land of Israel.”

Chasin said that Adelson does not make specific design requests, but that “she is in my heart, I understand her. I know where she’s going and what she might like, and I give her a lot of options.” 

The designer is especially devoted to Adelson, saying, “I put all of my ideas in for Dr. Miriam Adelson, that is my job.”

Chasin compared Adelson to 19th-century philanthropist Moses Montefiore: “The things she does for the Gaza border communities and Jews of the world and Birthright – she’s everywhere. She’s like Montefiore.”