Last update - 00:00 01/11/2006
Israeli from hem to hem
By Ilit Mainemer
"Israeli Fashion" - these words appear not only on the business cards of the design duo Ehud Ziv-Av and Maya Baranes, but also on the labels of the clothes they design.
"We are not here by mistake and will soon be in Paris," explains Ziv-Av.
They want to ensure that their clothes are 100 percent Israeli.
"The work is done here," continues Ziv-Av, "by Israelis who earn a decent wage. We try to use what little raw materials are available here, and above all else appeal first and foremost to Israeli clientele."
This is their first collection together. They are both 29 and studied together in the same class at Shenkar School of Engineering and Design. About a month ago, they opened their store, "Tsavaron Lavan" ("White Collar") at the north end of Dizengoff Street in Tel Aviv. Naturally, they have their finger on the pulse of international fashion and know all the trends, "but from an Israeli perspective, the way we interpret it."
Ziv-Av believes there is insufficient use of local cultural sources.
"There are a lot of people in Israel from many different places," says Ziv-Av, "who have brought knowledge and culture with them. I believe the mistakes of the 1950s are being made all over again. In fashion this is evident in the look, cut and materials which are strongly influenced by Europe. The knowledge that has accumulated here is not being used as a work tool, from catalog photography to design and the attitude to the body itself."
Even street fashion, which many young designers are trying their hand at, draws inspiration from other lands, explains Baranes.
"Our street is not used enough," she says.
"They don't combine the local materials and looks," concludes Ziv-Av.
Looking at the tailored, meticulous collection they have created, a large part of which is devoted to evening wear, it is difficult not to wonder about the connection between it and the Israeli experience.
"Ultimately, we want there to be respect in Israel for well-designed clothes and haute couture," explains Baranes. "And we want it to come from the Israeli direction, not from copying European designs."
"We are trying to find a balance in the [use of local] materials and to work with an awareness of these materials," adds Ziv-Av. "The success of the results is subjective, but the goal is for our Israeliness to be evident 10 collections from now."
Ziv-Av and Baranes completed their studies at Shenkar two years ago. Ziv-Av worked as a designer for Fox Men for one season and then went to Florence to study at Polymoda Technical College for a year. Baranes spent three months with Raziela Gershon and then a year at Comme Il Faut.
Abandoning stereotypes
When Ziv-Av sought a professional partner who would be "my opposite, so that our designs would turn out more interesting," he thought of Baranes.
"It turns out that we're not exactly opposites," they smile, "but we are interesting. We have been influenced by different sources and we combine our ideas."
Baranes brings some influences from abroad, from Japanese style, plus "the art-nouveau style in Austria at the end of the 19th century," adds Ziv-Av. The Israeli spirit comes more from veteran Israeli designers, cultural events, Hebrew music and the attitude toward design here. Ziv-Av says he flees from stereotypes of Israeliness.
"I don't like nostalgia," he declares, "and even though this is a young culture, I try to find avenues of development. How, for example, we see the influence of Fini Leitersdorf, and the local-international dialogue evident in Gideon Oberson's designs over the years."
At the same time, Ziv-Av notes that he and Baranes are affected by "European professionalism, by the tailored men's clothing, which we strive to emulate. The garment that fits the body perfectly."
Even though their style is still developing, their clothes all have a common thread, with a focus on tailored clothes and evening wear. Here and there they address the demands of the season.
"A trend is an excellent tool, a pleasant game," says Ziv-Av. "It is all a matter of balance. We have a clear central line, and it has margins. Still, 10 years from now I do not want to look at something I made and say it was a passing whim that is not connected to anything."
"Sometimes we go wild with one item and produce a limited quantity of it," says Baranes, "to keep things fun, so that not everything will be as expected, but will not overwhelm the collection, either. This season, for example, we have designed a narrow, high-waisted skirt that will not suit every customer."
Behind a wooden screen in the store sits a work table that both Ziv-Av and Baranes use. In the studio directly below the store (it is important to them that their staff be in one place), there are three professional seamstresses, a cutter and tailoring and haute couture specialist, who is also the technical team leader.
They are in the store and the studio from morning till night. Ziv-Av and Baranes still have no salespeople and do all their work themselves.
Their desire to please is evident in the size range (36 to 46) and in the photos of the collection. They chose a mature, curvaceous model to showcase it, not a size 36 model. The styling may not be brilliant, and the clothes do not always look especially flattering, but the promise is definitely there.
Inspired by area plants
The winter collection, on sale now at the store, is influenced by botanical paintings by Shmuel Charuvi, who painted Israeli plants and flowers in the 1920s (an exhibition of his paintings was displayed this year in the Israel Museum.)
"There are genuine colors with a dusky hue, stark grays and vibrant greens," says Baranes.
The dominant colors are indeed gray and black with dusky tones of red, green and purple.
There are various groups that comprise the collection: a super-fashionable tailored suit, a tailored cashmere jacket with a double collar that can be worn with straight-legged gray wool pants or a pleated knee-lengthed silk taffeta skirt, Or take the short, plaid wool jacket that can be worn with matching knee-length pants or a straight skirt with a pleat in back, or alternatively with a matching sleeveless silk top and wide-legged pants.
The stitching is meticulous, as the flatteringly cut long jacket proves, which on close examination reveals precision work on the details.
"There are no shortcuts," say Ziv-Av and Baranes, "and it's all right if it takes more than a day to sew a jacket."
The fabrics are mostly natural silk, wool and cotton, but, they admit, "we do not rule out polyester fibers, because they have advantages. Most of the fabrics are imported, as they are unavailable locally. If they were, we'd grab them up. We try to use whatever local stuff there is, such as the notions, buttons, satin ribbons and lace. In a few places in Tel Aviv one can still find amazing things from times gone by."
"Tsavaron Lavan," 283 Dizengoff Street, Tel Aviv. Prices: Evening gowns - NIS 780-5,500; pants - NIS 500-600; jackets - NIS 950-2,688; skirts - NIS 750-1,370; blouses and sleeveless tops - NIS 250-680; coats - NIS 2,300.