Half a Century in America: Jacob Adoni Marks Fifty Years Since He Arrived From Israel at 17
In 1976 he spoke little English and took any job on offer. Fifty years later he has founded fashion companies, developed Long Island real estate and still works in the shoe trade.
NEW YORK. Fifty years ago this year, Jay Adoni, born Jacob Adoni, stepped off a plane from Israel at 17 with limited English and no plan beyond hard work. The anniversary is a good moment to look at how far that start has carried him.
He began at the bottom of the job market: bus boy, cook, painter, warehouseman. The job that mattered most was as a shipping clerk in a shoe factory, where he saw how footwear moved from the floor to the store.
Within two years he was running his own company. LJ Simone, a label for ladies' handbags and shoes, became a recognized American accessories brand in the 1980s, and Brett Kingstone included him in The Dynamos: Who Are They, Anyway?, published by John Wiley and Sons in May 1987, a book on young American entrepreneurs.
In 1993 Pentland Brands bought LJ Simone and he became President of Pentland USA. He then turned to commercial real estate on Long Island before returning to fashion with PLV Studio, the company behind Pour La Victoire and Kelsi Dagger.
Half a century on, his working days look a lot like his first ones. Today he works in his shoe factory in Brooklyn and runs a rare coin business.
His full story, with photographs and a timeline, is on the official site of Jacob Adoni.
Media contact: jayadoni.com/contact.html
About Jay Adoni
Jacob "Jay" Adoni came to the United States from Israel in 1976. He founded LJ Simone and PLV Studio, served as President of Pentland USA and lives and works in New York. Website: jayadoni.com.