Last update - 00:00 19/09/2007
Fit for Charlie Chaplin
By Ilit Mainemer
At age 40, Ady Kilav decided to take a new path in life and fulfill an old dream. "I always wanted to design," he says, "but I used to be worried about providing for a family, and in general, in the religious society where I grew up, it was unacceptable for a man to be involved in fashion."
Kilav, who owns a Jerusalem-based company that works with engineers and architects, decided to change course, and went to study shoe design at the now-closed Achilles school.
"I had the urge to design, but I didn't want to do work with either homes or furniture, where you constantly have to consult with the client. I wanted to make all the decisions myself, to provide the client with a finished product. In fashion design, one also has to consider the desires of the client, but with shoes, I think, one can consider fashion less."
After studying for a year, he began designing some shoes himself, "not for the money, but in order to see whether it really would catch on," he says. His handiwork can be seen in the soles, where he prints his brand name, Na'alayim (Shoes), alongside his cell phone number. Even now, after teaming up with his manufacturer, he still oversees every single pair of shoes, and wraps every shoe in silk paper before placing it in the unconventional, thought-out cardboard box.
"The handles and the side openings let you take the shoes out of the box without pulling the box out of the pile every time someone wants to try them on," he says.
He opened a store two months ago, at 8 Emek Refa'im Street in Jerusalem, alongside his business offices. There, Kilav - who looks much younger than his 46 years - presents his graphic worldview. He describes his small collection as "not fashionable," even though this season, that's not entirely true. "To my regret," he says, "it is indeed fashionable this season, but I am working on a shoe mold that is unfashionable."
The shoes in the collection's retro line, which would suit Charlie Chaplin or Michael Jackson, are extremely wide and square, with an upward tilt. They are lined with checkered cloth, which peeks out nicely. Kilav pairs colors, such as brown and pink, black and red, black and white, and brown and cream, and his shoes evoke the handiwork of bygone days. Some of the styles are suitable for men, too.
The same mold also serves a "more modern" line, he says, which he calls "meetings without seams." Here, it seems as if he tried to challenge himself and create shoes with invisible seams. These shoes are less unique, despite the color schemes, and they indeed do not come off as fashionable.
Meanwhile, Kilav is working on a narrower mold. Another design features asymmetrical pairs - one shoe is laced down the middle, while the other laces on the side. However, some of these shoes, which are made from colored printed cloth, are not finished very precisely, and this is a shame.
Na'alayim, 8 Emek Refa'im Street, Jerusalem. The retro model is currently being sold by the Razili chain. Prices: shoes - NIS 590-790, boots - NIS 1,250-1,550.