After a two-year pause due to the war, Tel Aviv Fashion Week reopened — and I have just returned to the U.S. still in awe of what I experienced. The spirit inside these shows is unlike anything in the world.

Every fashion week has its own energy… Paris has its precision. Milan its heritage. New York its edge. Tel Aviv has resilience and spirit.

Experiencing it for the first time, what struck me most was how honest this fashion week feels. There is a sincerity to the collections — clothing that carries the DNA of its designer, not the machinery of mass production. Less theatrical performance, more artistic truth.

There was one moment I will never forget. At the opening gala, former hostage-survivor Eli Sharabi, who just months ago walked out of captivity looking like a Holocaust survivor, returned to the runway with family members by his side. They marched to “Still Have It,” sung live by Shiri Maimon and the Israeli Opera choir. The audience rose to its feet. It wasn’t a fashion moment — it was a human one. A reminder that beauty and pain can stand on the same stage, and hope can still rise.

It reminded me of everything I love about fashion — when clothing is not just worn, but lived.

More reflections, imagery and designer highlights coming soon.

With love from Tel Aviv — now back home in the U.S.,
Nancy
Founder & Creative Director, NANDANIE