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Israel’s fashion celebrated both sustainability and the Abraham Accords
April 06, 2022
The first remarkable thing about Kornit Fashion Week Tel Aviv 2022 was that it took place live and in person, at Hangar 11 in the Tel Aviv Port, as opposed to last year’s prerecorded pandemic-limited event.
The second remarkable thing was that it opened on the night of April 3 with an exhibition of 30 styles by Emirati designer Mona El Mansouri in honor of Israel’s year and a half of normalized relations with the United Arab Emirates.
And the third thing was its focus on the convergence of design, technology and sustainability.
The four-day show was sponsored by Rosh Ha’Ayin-based multinational company Kornit Digital and showcased the power of on-demand production.
All the designer collections were digitally printed with a range of materials — faux leather, faux fur, metallics, spandex, organza, chiffons, silks, nylon, lurex fabrics, natural fabrics, synthetics, rhinestones and sequins — created in a few weeks, unlike typical fashion and textile production processes that take over six months.
Kornit’s digital printing systems and workflow software are expected by 2026 to enable production of 2.5 billion apparel items while saving 4.3 trillion liters of water and 17.2 billion kilograms of greenhouse gas emissions – reducing overproduction by 1.1 billion garments.
Mobile secondhand shop
The Tel Aviv-Yafo municipality underscored the sustainability aspect by displaying “Autobeged,” an electric vehicle converted into a secondhand mobile boutique that will travel around the city collecting pre-worn clothes and selling them at very competitive prices to benefit people with disabilities.
Autobeged is a project of Second Love, a secondhand clothing store operated by people with disabilities under the municipal corporation Matash.
Tradition reigned in one critical area: The event was produced by Israeli fashion icon and entrepreneur Motty Reif, who resurrected and modernized the 1980s Tel Aviv Fashion Week concept in 2011.
He pointed out that the runway was shared by a diverse and inclusive array of designers, models and garments.
“In the past two seasons, Fashion Week has made a great effort in putting out the message that fashion belongs to everyone, that you should feel good with yourself whatever size, body shape or age you are,” Reif said.
This year’s emphasis on sustainability wasn’t only about the production process. It was also about the look. Many items sported a fruit-and-vegetable theme in a nod to the importance of supporting local agriculture.
Reif noted that the presence of journalists and fashion critics from countries including the United States, United Kingdom, France and Bahrain underscores the growing availability of Israeli fashion designs online.