Fashion Week is underway with an investment of NIS 6 million. Among the Israeli designers who are showing are Miller Jewelry, Michal Negrin, Golbary, Onot, Gideon Oberson, Raziela Gershon, Yaniv Parsi, Golf, Yosef, Sasson Kedem, Naama Bezalel and Dorin Frankfurt.

Gindi Tel Aviv Fashion Week, which began on Sunday, is a competitor to the original Israel Fashion Week. The new event was born in the wake of a dispute between the partners who produced the original fashion week. Most of the Israeli designers pulled out of the original, along with producer Moti Reif and are showing at the new fashion week.

The main concern about the split is that official support from places like the Export Institute or the Tourism Ministry for future events will dry up. This would be a defeat for the local industry. However, there may be a silver lining: After most of the major designers who are friendly with Reif moved to his event, his former partner Ofir Lev’s Fashion Week will be devoted to young designers who did not receive a platform in the previous event.

Moreover, Haaretz has been told that Gindi Holdings will cover most of the costs of Reif’s event and the participation fees paid by the designers in that event will be dedicated to scholarships for fashion design students.

At this stage, both events are aimed at encouraging the local fashion industry. Lev’s office has refused to give the names of the buyers who are expected to arrive but Lev himself has confirmed the arrival of the head of the Italian buyers’ association, “not for the purpose of placing orders, but rather to see what’s happening in Israel.”





Open gallery view Israeli designer Yosef's creations at Gindi Tel Aviv Fashion Week. Credit: David Bachar