Israeli fashion students showcase the effects of October 7 in their collections
Creatives have been using their designs as a way to process personal experiences
October 7 has had a profound impact on the Israeli fashion industry, especially among the young generation of designers attempting to pick up the pieces and create something new.
Last month the Fashion Design departments at Shenkar College and the University of Haifa presented their graduate shows, offering a glimpse into the bright future of Israeli fashion while also raising broader questions about the influence of the country’s current reality on its emerging designers.
Alongside bold and direct references to the war, some collections were shaped by it in quieter ways – ones that neither intended nor attempted to draw explicit connections. Yet the influence was unmistakable.
The younger generation in Israel has been forced to experience traumatic events, miss significant moments in their lives, and spend hundreds of days on reserve duty while studying at university.
“The subjects and inspirations of the students have changed completely,” says Ilan Beja, Head of the Fashion Design Department at Shenkar College.
“If in the past they worked with visually appealing references, nowadays they’re referring to their emotions and the space around them. Each one of them has their own interpretation for different emotions; it’s very individual. The war influenced that particular process.
“Also, Israeli designers have developed remarkable creative resilience. We know that if there is a war or a certain situation, we can fix it in one way or another, and that’s very important,” adds Ilan.
On the Shenkar Runway, surrounded by mirrors that gave the garments a futuristic yet contemporary feel, many of the collections reflected exactly what Beja described. Naama Kaplan Sharon designed a collection inspired by her hearing impairment, Noa Atias explored the period between marriage and divorce, and Hila Vardi chose to discuss women’s empowerment in the army.
Some graduates were undoubtedly influenced by the war, like Dvir Tsimbler and Ofir Vissel, who addressed post-trauma from different perspectives, while others seemed connected by exploration of a new form of masculinity, such as Eden Golbary, Shir Amram and Mika Ben Yehuda.
Hagar Lautman, one of the boldest graduates, dedicated her powerful collection to her friend Rotem Neumann, who was murdered at the Nova Festival on October 7.
“Rotem was my childhood friend, and we were very close. She used to spread love everywhere she went, so that’s why I called the collection Love to Love. It was important for me to remember her as the happy person she was. It’s not a usual remembrance project,” she says.
“I wanted to create a collection full of movement. I used fringes and ruffles, and lilac, which was Rotem’s favorite colour. I also made a collection of silver jewelry inspired by wired earphones because Rotem used to walk with them all the time. They became her signature.”
Hagar also took inspiration from butterflies. “I combined the motif of the butterflies in different ways. I created a lace dress with a butterfly print, laser-cut leather pants, and a leather dress in the shape of one. Butterflies are beautiful, but they’re also fragile. Just like Rotem.”
Shenkar’s Fashion Design Department won several awards in the international fashion industry over the past year, despite the challenges facing Israel today.
“The personal stories and emotional approach of our students are positioning them differently from European students,” says. “We live in a different culture, and that’s why their creations are bolder. Our students design from their heart, and people abroad are definitely feeling that,” says Ilan.
At the University of Haifa, some students designed blanket-like garments to symbolise the need for comfort and protection, while others, like Tomer Kristal, explored the tension between revealing and hiding, reflecting on the fear experienced on October 7.
One of the collections influenced by the war, but in a different context, was that of Smadar Lev, who created garments inspired by love letters sent to men serving on the front. Smadar’s boyfriend, who later became her husband, was called to reserve duty, and she began writing letters to him.
“We couldn’t contact him at the beginning of the war. More than a month passed, and I felt stressed,” she says. “Two years later, I went to the Holon Museum of Design, and I read a couple of letters women had sent to their husbands during World War II. The first thing I noticed was the kiss on the paper, something I had done instinctively as well.
“Then I understood there was something bigger here, and that my grandparents had letters like this as well. That’s timeless.”
The result was a beautiful, feminine collection filled with hearts and references to women on the home front.
“One of the garments I designed has more than 1,500 hearts on it. Others include a wrap dress, pajamas as the uniform of the home, and a military jacket with underwear underneath. I wanted to talk about the women on the home front and what they’re facing.”
The war has undeniably shaped this new generation of Israeli designers – but not solely through loss. It has encouraged many of them to become more introspective, emotionally honest, and deeply connected to their own stories, using fashion as a way to process personal experiences and transform them into something universal.