The 2016 graduates of the Department of Fashion Design presented their spectacular graduate collections in two fashion shows held at Hangar 11 in Tel Aviv.

At the conclusion of four intensive and challenging years of study, 35 talented graduates revealed original and inspirational designs reflecting their outlooks, perceptions, and the issues that occupy them: from identity and gender, through immigration and displacement, to family traditions, and thoughts about the future.

>> Visit the Department of Fashion Design Graduates website!Lucky Charms // Amir Marc's final collection (Photo: Rafi Delouya)

President of Shenkar, Prof. Yuli Tamir, congratulated the graduates and the multitude of guests who packed the hall, saying that "our celebration is twofold after the Department was ranked one of the top ten fashion design institutions worldwide".

Head of the Department of Fashion Design, Leah Perez ,noted that "our graduates continue to present impressive achievements", and expressed her immense excitement on this special occasion. Department graduate and senior womenswear designer at Castro, Shahar Danziger, shared his experience of studying at Shenkar, saying that “that period without doubt paved my path to success".

​The impressive fashion show concluded with Amir Marc being named winner of the Fini Leitersdorf Award for his extraordinary graduate collection "Lucky Charms". The designs were inspired by the lifejacket he wore during his military service in the Navy, and references charms used by the native seafarers of Alaska.

Among the many guests attending the event were Maria Olofsgård, head “talent scout” for H&M, Michael Camp, artistic director at the prestigious Hugo Boss label, Patrick De Muynck, head of the Fashion Design Department at Polimoda in Florence, Fiona Dieffenbacher, head of the Fashion Design Department at Parsons in New York, Marc Worth, CEO and chair of Stylus and chair of Shenkar’s Board of Trustees, international fashion designer and Department graduate Kobi Halperin, who was until recently head designer of the international brand Kenneth Cole, and Department graduate Niran Avisar who was recently appointed head menswear designer at Alexander Wang.

Perfectly Numb: Lidar Avittan’s graduate collection (Photograph: Rafi Delouya)

Prominent in the new graduates’ collections was emphasized use of silhouettes, volume, and deconstruction of the garments, alongside techniques typifying Shenkar, including handicrafts, prints, and knitting. The young designers employed these means to express the reality of their life in a period of monumental changes – in the world in general and in fashion in particular.

Questions about reality and illusion, concealment and revelation, and personal and public space were raised in the various projects through silhouettes, at times exaggerated and dramatic, through construction of a fragile garment, virtually hanging by a thread and revealing vulnerability, or a garment that functions as a means of protection, and playing with two- and three-dimensions. Added to these were thoughts about life in the digital age, loss of privacy, shattered boundaries and erecting barriers, and the emotional baggage between memories of the past and hopes for the future.

•  All the designs, all the designers: Visit the Department of Fashion Design Graduates website!

At the top of the page: Shahar Avnet with a design from her graduate collection "The Women in My Life" (Photograph: Rafi Delouya)