Shani Zigron, adorned in a chic shearling coat and effortlessly accessorized with a $3,000 Prada handbag, looked every bit the model as she made her way through the streets of Manhattan.

However, her destination was not a glamorous runway but rather the Thurgood Marshall Federal Courthouse located in downtown New York City.

For the past month, the 30-year-old Israeli model has been navigating the starkly unglamorous surroundings of the courthouse to stand by her husband of nearly six years. He is currently on trial for charges related to sex trafficking, a serious situation that places the father of her two young daughters in the spotlight for all the wrong reasons.

This scenario is a stark contrast to her usual, more glamorous lifestyle.

Despite the circumstances, Zigron remains a steadfast presence at Alon Alexander’s court sessions. She is often seen smiling as he arrives in handcuffs and expressing visible disapproval when the prosecution presents its arguments.

Throughout the proceedings, she diligently takes notes and jots down thoughts in her vibrant pink diary. Her entries at the end of February are filled with hopeful, child-like bubble letters, optimistically declaring, “Alon coming home now.”

Alon Alexander and his twin Oren, both 38, are being tried alongside their brother Tal, 39, on 10 federal charges of a sex trafficking conspiracy, which New York prosecutors say the three wealthy siblings ran for almost two decades, from 2002-2021. They have all pled not guilty and insist any sexual interaction was consensual. If convicted they face life in prison.

More than 30 witnesses were called by the prosecution including 11 women who accuse some of the trio of rape or sexual assault. Many of the women claimed they were drugged and abused by the photogenic siblings.

Shani Zigron, 30, the Israeli model and wife of Alon Alexander, has been spending the past month in decidedly unglamorous confines, supporting her husband of almost six years, father of her two young daughters, throughout his trial for sex trafficking

Zigron shared photos on social media of her high-flying existence, in the lavish cocoon of the Alexander family. The couple are pictured at the Plaza Hotel in February 2022

And the testimony has, at times, been harrowing. One accuser told the court she was 17 when Oren Alexander was filmed raping her, despite her being unable to recall even meeting him.

Zigron has sat stoically through it all. She has, on occasion, been joined by Oren’s wife, Kamila Hansen, 31.

Appearing in court in a series of fur coats and Ugg boots, Brazilian-born Hansen has looked every inch the model she once was, if rather more camera shy. She has often been seen shielding her face from the waiting press by wrapping an oversized scarf around her head.

Notably missing from the family bench is Arielle, wife of the third sibling, Tal – but more of that later.

For the past five weeks, Zigron and Hansen have looked on from the public gallery flanked frequently by their in-laws – the brother’s mother, Orly, a well-known Miami philanthropist, and her husband Shlomi.

The couple emigrated from Israel in the early 1980s and not long after, in 1982, founded a security company, Kent Security – which has in recent years employed Alon as vice president, until he was charged.

The parents then branched out into real estate, and two of their sons followed and excelled: Tal and Oren became brokers, working first for Douglas Elliman in Miami and then in New York City, and ultimately founding in 2022 their own firm, Official Partners.

In 2019 the siblings sold the most expensive home in American history – a $240 million penthouse apartment overlooking Central Park, bought by hedge fund billionaire Ken Griffin.

The three brothers enjoyed the spoils of their success, and each bought mansions in Miami Beach in 2020: the Miami Herald estimated that the siblings’ properties are collectively worth nearly $30 million.

Alon’s wife, Zigron, shared photos on social media of her high-flying existence, in the lavish cocoon of the Alexander family.

She had walked the Paris catwalk in 2013 for Vivienne Westwood, and the following year was cast in Adam Selman’s New York show and Philipp Plein’s Milan offering. In 2018 she auditioned for the legendary Victoria’s Secret spectacle, but was not chosen.

In 2018 Zigron auditioned for the legendary Victoria’s Secret spectacle, but was not chosen. She is pictured at the casting

Makeup campaigns followed, with 2020 shoots for Estee Lauder and Nars.

But she was far from a household name. It was only when she married Alon, in May 2020, that her financial future would have finally seemed sealed.

Alon’s twin, Oren, fished for his bride in a similar pool.

Hansen, like Zigron, made several catwalk appearances throughout 2014 – with Versace, Givenchy, Herve Leger and Zimmerman all hiring the brunette beauty to model their clothes.

In 2018, while on a girls’ weekend in Las Vegas, she met her future husband.

And for a time the siblings and their glamorous partners enjoyed a no-holds-barred jet-set lifestyle.

They posted photos of themselves skiing in Aspen, and on safari in South Africa.

They waltzed from Cairo to Provence, from Venice to the Austrian ski resort of Lech.

Travelling by private jet to lounge on a yacht, they flitted from the Bahamas to Saint Tropez, while the Hamptons was their second home.

In September 2021, posing at the US Open tennis tournament, Tal boasted that he had attended three of the four Grand Slams that year.

Social media photos showed a family vacation to French Polynesia; a wedding in Turkey; a tour of a sumo wrestling ‘stable’ in Tokyo.

In August 2022, while at his family’s $3 million Aspen ranch, Hansen and Oren got engaged and, in May 2023, they tied the knot on Islamorada, a sleepy sandbank in the Florida Keys.

The wedding was covered by Vogue magazine, with the bride gushing: ‘I have always dreamed about my wedding day, and I was just so happy – literally in awe – throughout the entire ceremony. All I could do was smile the entire time.’

In 2018, while on a girls’ weekend in Las Vegas, Kamila Hansen met her future husband. The couple are pictured in December 2023, seven months after their Florida Keys wedding

Kamila Hansen walks the Ellus fashion show at Sao Paulo Fashion Week in April 2014 (left) and attends a 2018 Victoria’s Secret casting (right)

Brazilian-born Hansen, seen arriving at court on February 3, has looked every inch the model she once was, if rather more camera shy

But a little over 18 months after that dream wedding, while heavily pregnant with her first child, Hansen’s world came crashing down.

In December 2024, Oren and his brothers were charged and taken into custody in Miami, ahead of extradition to New York.

Gone were the designer suits, and in their place jail-issued suicide vests, as they made their first appearance in the Miami-Dade court.

Even the family’s offer of up to $115 million in collateral for bail was rejected by the judge, who concluded that the three siblings posed a significant flight risk.

Who knows what conversations have been held behind closed doors, but publicly both Hansen and Zigron have been standing by their men.

The same cannot be said for Tal’s wife Arielle, a managing director of a head-hunting firm.

Tal married Arielle in October 2023. If circumstances were different, they might still be enjoying the honeymoon phase of their union. But as soon as the allegations against the siblings were filed, Arielle walked away.

Much of the material presented at trial came from a search of Tal’s Manhattan apartment, where investigators say they found alleged ‘trophies’ from his exploits, including photos and videos showing ‘women in states of intoxication and undress’.

Arielle chose to separate from Tal, despite having given birth to their child shortly before. She made her priorities clear in a dignified statement confirming the split and issued via her attorney.

In it, Arielle asserted: ‘I will continue to provide my young baby with love and support as I leave my husband.

‘This commitment to my child’s best interests and well-being will remain my highest priority.’

Tal Alexander married Arielle in October 2023. If circumstances were different, they might still be enjoying the honeymoon phase of their union. But as soon as the allegations against the siblings were filed, Arielle walked away

Arielle asserted: ‘I will continue to provide my young baby with love and support as I leave my husband’

Arielle has been forced, she claims, to vacate the $3.1 million waterfront home in Miami and $55,000-a-month Manhattan apartment she shared with Tal, and is now based full time in New York City.

Oren and his wife sold their Miami Beach mansion in June 2025 for $51.5 million. It is not clear if Alon and Zigron have kept their $2.9 million home in the same area.

A fourth Alexander brother, Niv, 45, who is not accused of any wrongdoing, has appeared several times in court to support his three siblings.

The self-proclaimed ‘contrarian investor type’ is based between New York City and the exclusive enclave of Bedford, a bucolic settlement an hour north of Manhattan.

He married Cassie Arison, Carnival Cruises heiress and daughter of Israel’s wealthiest woman, Shari Arison, in 2019. The Arison wealth dwarfs the Alexander fortune, with Shari worth an estimated $6 billion.

Niv and Cassie live, while in the city, in a Renzo Piano-designed SoHo penthouse, which featured in a 2022 edition of Architectural Digest.

‘When I initially got to New York a decade ago, I lived in a loft on far west Broome Street,’ she told the magazine. ‘It was wonderful to be able to sit by the window and watch my family’s ships sail away.’

Cassie, a philanthropist and founder of As Promised magazine, has not been seen at the trial and remains active on social media – as is Arielle.

Niv Alexander and his heiress wife Cassie live, while in the city, in a Renzo Piano-designed SoHo penthouse, which featured in a 2022 edition of Architectural Digest

Niv Alexander leaves Manhattan Federal Court during his brothers’ trial

The two ‘model wives’, however, have closed their accounts.

What must have gone through their heads, as they sat through harrowing testimony and bore witness to a video so horrifying that some jurors struggled to look?

Speaking in an interview on fashion website The Daily Row back in 2021, Hansen gave a glimpse into her own approach to life.

‘Don’t start thinking your life is going to be a movie scene,’ she said, when asked for advice she’d share with other aspiring models. ‘You have to be very patient and focused on your goals, always keep your feet on the ground because it can really mess with your head.

‘Just be consistent, have a good relationship with your family and work hard, eventually [it] will fall into place.’

As the jury deliberates on the brothers’ fate, it’s hard not to wonder if those hopes have fallen as flat as those expressed by Zigron last month, when she wrote that message in her diary: ‘Alon coming home now.’

The date of that entry has passed – the certainty of her sentiment in question.