Timelessly Tasha

Within Two Short Decades, the Tasha Polizzi Brand Has Risen to the Forefront of Classic Western Design, Thanks to Its Late Visionary Namesake Designer.
 

- Susan L. Ebert

It’s a quintessentially Tasha moment: Having just been fêted with a spectacular runway show of her latest collection as Guest Designer at the 2017 March Western Market at the Dallas Market Center, Tasha Polizzi—at 72 still as lithe as a leopard, her tawny mane spilling down around her shoulders—steps to the center of the stage to a thunderous standing ovation, briefly acknowledges the accolades, then throws open both arms as if to embrace her staff flanking her on her left and right.

Her message could not have been more clear: “I didn’t do this alone,” her expansive gesture says. “We earned this all together as a team.”

The recognition of this brand was well-deserved, long overdue, and just in the nick of time. Tasha Polizzi’s timeless-yet-modern fashions, crafted of natural textiles such as silk, cotton, wool, and leathers with embellishments of lace, beading, and embroidery that conjure up native American and classic Western motifs, have endeared themselves to women from 18 to 80.

“Of course, we had no way of knowing then that this would be her last market,” her son John Polizzi tells me. “But still, it was such a nice coda to her career. I wish she could be here with us for another 30 years.”

Tasha was diagnosed with cancer several weeks after that market, and after a fierce and valiant fight, succumbed to its assault on August 9, 2017. She is survived by her husband of 39 years, Jack Polizzi; her son John and his wife Ashley; her son Chris, a collegiate football coach, and his wife Kelli; her 95-year-old mother Ginger Bauer; and her siblings Lois, Ray, Bill, and their families.