Tel Aviv Fashion Week took place in Israel last week. It was a fashion show week that exemplified inclusivity, and not just in terms of model casting. Harnessing the unifying power of fashion, the event also welcomed a UAE designer, Mona al Mansouri, onto its runway for the first time.
“I use this platform to spread social awareness, not just about clothes. That’s what makes us different,” said Motty Reif, founder of Tel Aviv Fashion Week, whom FashionUnited met after a joint show with students from Shenkar College – the fashion school whose students included fashion designer Alber Elbaz. For about ten years, this fertile breeding ground for talent and creations has been supported by its Fashion Week.
This year, 20,000 people came to the converted harbor shed to see the 20+ shows. Dubbed ‘alternative’ by Motty, fashion week went one step further than its big sisters in London, Milan, Paris and New York for four days.
“A celebration of beauty and people”
After attending London Fashion Week, Motty Reif said he was amazed at the casting there, which he felt in no way reflected what he says is perceived as the “capital of diversity”. “The models were all young, thin and tall. That’s the most important thing for me here. If the designers only want to work with slim models, that’s fine, but they must be between 20 and 80 years old. It’s about different sizes, ages and body shapes. In my opinion, this is what really defines a celebration of beauty and the individual. And that’s something you don’t see in Milan or New York.”
On the catwalk, the looks varied from a curvy silhouette to a slim model, from gray hair to black skin with a shaved head. The diversity was there and the audience gave a big round of applause, welcoming the plus size models as well as the older women and local celebrities.
Overall, the models were all Israeli, but “like most of the people who live here, they come from different places, some are immigrants or refugees,” said Keshet Shapiro Vaturi, the designer of the Kesh brand, which is on the Kornit Fashion Week calendar . “I don’t look at people’s pasts when I’m casting, like I do with my suppliers or the people I work with, I choose people based on who they are and what they say.” She hopes inclusivity will someday will be something completely natural: “Today it seems forced in many cases, but I think it’s a step in the right direction.”
The representation of body diversity has become more important in recent years and the theme of inclusivity in fashion is even said to have an impact on sales figures. According to the Report on Representation and Inclusion in the Fashion Industry, released in 2021 by the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Textiles and Fashion, 83.7 percent of respondents said that if a fashion brand advertised itself as non-inclusive, 83.7 percent of respondents would influence their purchasing decision prove. The founder of Israel Fashion Week understood this: “I think that women are fed up with fantasies,” he says. “A designer can’t just pick and photograph one type of model, otherwise people will buy [die Mode]
not.”
Mona al Mansouri, the first Arab designer to show in Israel
In Israel, the concept of inclusion and thus of coming together acquires a further political dimension. Taking shape in a country marred by religious divisions, the human and cultural landscape that Israeli fashion chooses to represent has an even wider reach than that of European and American fashion weeks.
At the end of March, a meeting to strengthen cooperation between the State of Israel and the Arab countries was held on Israeli soil. Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid and four of his Arab counterparts (Egypt, United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Morocco) took part in this “Negev Summit”. The event enabled the visit of Mona al-Mansouri, a designer from the United Arab Emirates. A big step forward as it was the first time in history that an Arab designer from the United Arab Emirates took part in Israel Fashion Week.
The inclusion of Mona al-Mansouri was made possible after months of discussions: “We could never do that before,” Motty said. But thanks to Naftali Bennett’s [Anm.d.Red.: Der israelische Premierminister] The process that was set in motion has resulted in a great opportunity. She was very brave to decide to come because it’s not easy, her clients are from Lebanon, from Syria, from Yemen (…) I didn’t think she would come… Man makes a decision and knows what you can lose. Then, at a certain point, she said, “I will take the first step in making a real connection for peace.” And she did.”
According to Motty, fashion can play a role in bringing Israel and neighboring Arab countries closer: “Our politicians talk and tell stories, but we as people, as fashion people, have to make the first step.”
In addition to the fashion shows, Kornit Fashion Week also had a showroom with designers from different backgrounds. Among them was Shady Francis Majlaton. The Arab designer with Israeli citizenship, who is also Palestinian, draws inspiration for his work from Muslim clothing, among other things. His presence was of great value to curator Roza Sinaysky: “I really wanted a Palestinian designer, not for symbolic or strategic reasons, but because it’s the same for me. They don’t have the ability to do something like that because they have a pretty restrictive environment, just like Aharon Ganis.” [Anm. d. Red: ein israelischer Designer,
der in einer ultra-orthodoxen Familie aufwuchs].
Last Thursday, a day after Israeli Fashion Week, a Palestinian from the occupied West Bank opened fire on a street in Tel Aviv. Unfortunately, although the fashion and the symbols of unity that it can offer to countries have their limits, the profession has the merit of wanting to lead by example.
Julia Garel traveled to Israel at the invitation of the Israeli Ministry of Tourism.
This article was previously published on FashionUnited.uk. Translation and editing: Barbara Russ.