“Half of my identity is fashion,” Sapir (last name withheld for security reasons), Center for Jewish Philanthropy of Greater Phoenix (CJP) senior community shlicha, told a group of people during the Valley of the Sun Jewish Community Center’s (VOSJ) “July Summer Connections – Cool Conversations” on Wednesday, July 9.
Sapir’s presentation, “Threads of Israel: A Journey Through Israeli Fashion,” took place on International Fashion Day, a day that celebrates the fashion industry for its creativity and cultural impact. Sapir explored the impact of Israel’s unique cultural stew on its fashion industry and started off discussing how she began to cultivate her own identity through fashion.
From childhood, Sapir has been passionate about fashion. She talked of struggling to listen to her teachers in school due to “severe ADHD.” She turned her attention instead to “sketching dresses, playing with colors, fabrics and silhouettes,” which gave her a way to express her feelings.
At the most basic level, she told people if she was happy or sad by what she wore on a daily basis. Black clothing and oversized sunglasses told people to back away, while colorful clothing invited others in. She even pointed to the clothes she was wearing, blue pants and a white vest, the colors of the Israeli flag.
Then she turned to Henriette Content-Tavor, the VOSJ’s creative adult programming director, who introduced her and was wearing a blue vest, making them a perfect background for the Israeli flag.
“There’s always a hidden message you can deliver, and we didn’t even coordinate it,” Sapir laughed.
It seemed to illustrate her point that people broadcast parts of their identity through fashion, even when they’re not conscious of it.
Eventually, Sapir would go into teaching, but her first foray into the working world was in fashion. She enrolled in Shenkar College of Engineering, Design and Art in Ramat Gan, Israel, and became a visual merchandiser. In other words, she would help her stores tell a story through the clothes, from the colors of the items to the way they were physically arranged.
At only 25 years old, Sapir was in charge of 55 of the nation’s 221 Delta Galil retail fashion stores.
“Every day, I drove to different stores to make sure that the best story was being told so that people would understand it and eventually buy the entire story, which includes tops, pants, makeup bags, whatever,” Sapir said.
Israeli fashion has a story of its own to tell, and Sapir explained that in the early days after its founding, “Israeli fashion basically started from the necessity of having very modest, very functional clothing and breathable fabrics.”
The early fashion was inspired primarily by two things: the Israeli army and life in the kibbutz.
Israel’s first textile company, ATA, an acronym for Arigei Totzeret Artzeinu (woven textiles made in our land), became the chief manufacturer of Israel Defense Forces (IDF) uniforms and practical work clothing. It “dressed the nation’s builders,” Sapir said.
Maskit Fashion House, which translates as ornament, blended the modern styles of the European immigrants with Middle Eastern embroidery traditions. Finy Leitersdorf, one of Maskit’s designers, told an Israeli journalist in 1966 about the “Israeliness” of her designs inspired by a “range of colors — the desert brown, the impure black inspired by Bedouin tents and the eternally changing blue of the Mediterranean.”
Sapir talked about the colors and embroidery techniques, which helped define the wearer’s identity to others.
“There were a lot of characteristics to every different piece of clothing,” she said. “It was more than clothing, it was basically the identity.”
An attendee at the presentation recalled that a representative of Maskit came to various synagogues in the United States, including hers, to sell fashion and artwork more than 50 years ago.
Sapir thanked her for the memory and showed examples of the company’s desert-inspired cloaks and tunics, saying it “created a very signature Israeli style.”
After Israel’s success in the Six-Day War in 1967, the increasingly positive image of the country enabled its designers to reach a global audience for Israeli fashion, Sapir said. Suddenly, Israeli brands were popping up in Paris and London.
At this point, she returned to Delta Galil Industries, a textile firm headquartered in Tel Aviv but with plants all over the world.
“They bring to the world cutting-edge technology and develop very seamless garments, moisture-wicking fabric and sustainable materials, which is important for Israeli companies,” Sapir said. She even advised looking at the tags of various clothing items while shopping, such as a pair of Nike shoes, to see if there is an Israeli technique or company involved. Given all of Israel’s manufacturing innovations, it is common to find an Israeli fingerprint at some point in the process.
She wrapped up her presentation by highlighting various Israeli fashionistas making a statement about their proud Israeli identities through their fashion, from a gown becoming a visual symbol of demanding the release of the hostages taken by Hamas to one imprinted with the Western Wall at a fashion show.
“Fashion is a way to say I’m proud of who I am, this is my country, this is where I come from,” Sapir said. JN
