During the Explore Israel Summit, one key part that stuck out to me was when we discussed the fashion aspects of Israel. 

Liraz Cohen was our educator for this part of the summit. She is the founder and CEO of Fashionating by Liri, where she educates others about Israel through fashion, and is based out of New York City. 

We started learning about the history of fashion in Israel, beginning in 1909, when Tel-Aviv was founded, and when the first Kibbutz in Israel was established. At the time, early residents of Tel-Aviv wore white to adapt to the climate, while residents of the Kibbutz wore Khaki. 

Fast-forward to 1948, the year Israel was founded: Piqué, or Marcella, becomes the new style in Israel. Then, in 1967, the Six Day War took place. After the war, camo became extremely popular in style. 

Now, in 2020, there is a fashion week in Tel-Aviv, and the next one will be held this upcoming March. This will be the third inclusive Tel-Aviv fashion week. There are also 500 retail companies in Israel, and 10% of the entire investment in retail-tech is in Israel. 

This lecture struck out to me because I love many things about fashion, and I also love Israel. 

Here are Liraz’s biggest takeaways about presenting Israel through a different perspective: 

“This is really our way of branding Israel and talking about Israel nowadays. Today, people hear about Israel the way they hear about it in the media and I think it’s important to show them a different perspective of the country and I think that’s what we should go towards branding Israel and telling the story of Israel in as many perspective possible to really expose people to angles of the country they were not aware of. My biggest takeaway is that I find people most engaged when they hear about Israel from a perspective that they were not aware of and it is close to their heart.”

- Liraz Cohen, Founder and CEO, Fashionating by Liri