INTERNATIONAL Fashion Weeks have been gaining in pace over the
last few seasons - Sao Paolo has
celebrated its 15th year and upped its ante by investing
in a new design show and exhibition space, able to house
installations and films, and Singapore's Audi
Fashion Week brought over Emanuel
Ungaro as well as some of London's top names - the established
Erdem
and the up-and-coming
J JS Lee - to help put it on the map. And next up was Tel Aviv,
which enlisted the help of Roberto
Cavalli to get its proceedings underway for its first Fashion
Week in 30 years this last month.
SEE THE HIGHLIGHTS HERE
The designer's sparkling presence (he presented his
sequin-strewn spring/summer 2012 collection) also signalled a
collaboration between Milan and Tel Aviv going forward. A
Milan-based designer will show each season in Tel Aviv (the next
edition of the Fashion Week will be in April) and every season a
young Israeli designer will present their collection as part of the
new designer showcase at Milan Fashion Week.
Among the Israeli designers to make their mark were Dodo Bar Or,
Israel Ohayon, Tamar Primark and Mira Zwillinger.
The mind behind Pas de Toi, a line stocked at Luisa Via Roma,
Dodo Bar Or is not just a designer - she juggles being an actress
and a style icon along the way, too. But for this occasion she
stuck to fashion and presented her first collection on the catwalk
under her own name. Her inspiration came from Egyptian muses, music
and Palestinian embroidery - while the show included belly
dancing.
Ohayon was the winner of the Week's Upcoming Designers award and
the collection had a focus on innovation and silhouette.
A label already with a certain amount of buzz about it in Tel
Aviv is Tamar Primark's Ishtar, which took inspiration from vintage
Middle Eastern clothing and fabrics with antique trimmings.
Zwillinger, who currently stocks at Browns Bride, is noted to be
at a couture level in Tel Aviv and the collection was
prom-perfect.
"It was a matter of faith, timing, and understanding the needs
of the Israeli market. Tel Aviv Fashion Week is the future of the
fashion industry, a platform to its creativity, an international
stage. Success in this level, shows the need of this platform, and
how a very creative market needs vision and support," says Ofir
Lev, president Tel Aviv Fashion Week, of the reason to get back in
the fashion game.
SEE THE CATWALK SHOWS
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