“It’s Jovani!”
Fans of the “Real Housewives of New York” can’t read that line without hearing Dorinda Medley screaming it at Luann “the Countess” De Lesseps during her cabaret show, #CountessAndFriends, which was featured in the Aug. 15 episode of “Housewives.”
Jovani is a New York-based gown retailer headquartered in the Garment District. When Medley, who has a close relationship with the designer brand, paid them back for years of loaner gowns with some TV exposure, things took an unexpected turn.
Medley styled De Lesseps with free outfits from the brand for her cabaret show — and De Lesseps rudely “forgot” to invite Medley’s boyfriend to the opening night.
Feeling slighted, Medley drunkenly heckles her friend, screaming “Jovani” at her throughout the show. It’s pathetic to watch.
So who is the real winner of this petty fight? Jovani. Since the show aired, they’ve seen a 100,000 visitor spike in website traffic, CEO and co-owner Abraham Maslavi tells The Post.
“The exposure is very welcome, obviously,” he says.
Medley’s “It’s Jovani!” war cry has also become a meme: Chrissy Teigen, petty queen of the internet and “Housewives” fan, recently posted an Instagram Story in which she dons a Jovani dress and sings out, “It’s Jovani!” (De Lesseps later reposted the video.)
Maslavi, 49, tells The Post that the staff at the New York Jovani store “loves” Medley and the rest of the Housewives. “They say hi to everyone here,” he says.
Jovani has been around since 1980, and sells prom dresses, cocktail frocks, red-carpet gowns and wedding dresses. Their glitzy creations range from $399 to upwards of $15,000 — though currently, fans can win a piece for free by posting their own “It’s Jovani” video.
Maslavi and his staff have been watching this season closely. Jovani senior sales executive Teara de Barros, 36, tells The Post the fight about their store is “crazy, what it’s turned into.”
The team even went to see De Lesseps’ cabaret. “She wore about five different outfits,” says Maslavi.
After neglecting to give Jovani (and Medley) due credit on Bravo, De Lesseps has been tagging the eveningwear retailer in almost every Instagram photo she’s posted of her cabaret. Medley does the same; she recently donned a Jovani number to the Season 10 reunion.
De Lesseps, who was in rehab for alcoholism during the reunion, said on “Watch What Happens Live” on Sept. 5 that she would have worn a Jovani to the reunion.
“It’s just funny. I feel like the whole season turned into [being] around [us],” says de Barros.