The late designer Albert Elbaz’s fashion show is on display at the Israel Design Museum in Holon

The Design Museum Holon in Israel is exhibiting the largest collection of works by renowned fashion designer Albert Elbaz – known for his attention-grabbing red carpet looks worn by the world’s biggest celebrities, including Meryl Streep and Natalie Portman.

A fashion legend always dressed in a dinner jacket and bowtie, Elbaz is recognized as one of the most famous Israeli designers in the world. “Alber left behind an incredible legacy that changed fashion forever,” wrote exhibition organizer Yara Keidar. He was born in Casablanca, grew up in Holon, Israel, moved to New York, conquered Paris and then the rest of the fashion world.

Elbaz passed away from Covid-19 last year at the age of 59. The new exhibition and in fact Retrospectively, it spans the entire museum, where he gave new life to Lanvin, who was fashion director from 2001 to 2015, and left to Elbaz’s life and work.

From now until February 25, 2023. Albert Elbaz: The Dream Factory,” takes you on a journey through his amazing work and fantasy-filled life. “Hundreds of photographs, fashion pieces, video clips, objects and personal items will be presented to the public for the first time – the stuff of which Alber’s dreams are made,” explains Kidar. The idea is to include everything – his entire life – in the exhibition.

After graduating from Schenker College, Albert moved to New York to work with Geoffrey Binet and later to Paris to design houses for Guy Laroche and Saint Laurent. After that, he spent 14 years as creative director at Lanvin – the third-oldest French fashion house still in operation – transforming it into a cutting-edge and global brand before suddenly firing today in 2015, with many of his designs under his belt. At Lanvin, they are now on display, including the brand’s own first collection from the AZ factory, which he released a few months before his passing. AZ Factory was Alber’s personal fashion label launched in 2021 after a four-year hiatus. “What is the future of fashion?” He pondered to answer that question. The latest collection is an attempt to answer this age-old question.

In the year More than 100 couture pieces created especially for a tribute fashion show to commemorate Elbaz’s remarkable life, held in Paris in October 2021, are on display in Israel for the first time. And 46 of the world’s leading fashion houses (Dior, Gucci, Balenciaga, McQueen, and more) came together to create pieces in his honor. Katie Rees, who was the show’s creative director, was Alber’s creative collaborator and close friend. Rice contributed to and collaborated with Design Museum Holon for this special exhibition.

Visitors are led through a gallery that recalls Alber’s journey and evolving style, but looks at the future of fashion as seen through Alber’s eyes.

I recently had the opportunity to meet Yaara Keidar, curator of the Design Museum Holon exhibition, who detailed “the story of this incredible man who reached the pinnacle of fashion.” With a BA Honors in Fashion Design from Schenker College, Keydar completed an MA program in Costume Studies at NYU and is currently a PhD student in Cultural Studies. program at the Hebrew University. In our interview, we discuss at length Keidar’s unique discoveries on Elbaz, his philosophy that fashion can be considered art, and why a fashion exhibition in Israel is a must-visit right now.

What is the connection between the Design Museum Holon and Alber Elbaz?

Yaara Keydar: Moroccan-born Shalom Albert Elbaz (1961-2021) later established his career in New York and Paris. But he was raised and educated in Israel. The family lived in Holon, so the museum is actually 15 minutes from where it started. He looked upon Israel as his country; As the place where his heart and family were – so he really had a special place in his life and career direction.

In researching and collecting objects for the exhibition, what were some of the unique things you discovered?

Yaara Keidar: I met some early fashion models when I was six years old. If you look closely at the text in Hebrew, the number of examples is giving itself levels. Talking to his sisters, he expressed his relentless courage to dream big, especially since his childhood. Once when his family was visiting from Spain, his aunt gave his mother a scarf. “Alber, who was 10 years old, touched the cloth and after examining it from all sides, he said, “What is the designer’s name? Did he make this scarf?” “His name is Yves Saint Laurent,” they said. “One day I will work for this designer.” 25 years later, Albert made this true childhood dream come true.

I have found old pictures of him as a young student and rare examples from the 1980s. Now on display in a gallery, one can truly see how his style and illustrations have evolved over the ages.

Walk through some of the icons on display. What do they represent?

Yaara Kidar: Among the designs you know are Meryl Streep’s stunning gold dress that won her an Oscar and the beautiful piece that was personally commissioned for famous Israeli actor Ronit Elkabets by Albert, who was her favorite designer and best friend.

Albert created this incredible and very important thing that is the foundation of the future of fashion. Is fashion still relevant? What is the role of fashion in our lives? For Alber, it was very important to focus on the person in the dress – the look and feel. He talked about inclusion and diversity, and really creating solutions for the lives of modern women every day.

Art is often associated with controversy. Did you find a place for Elbaz politics in the exhibition?

Yara Keidar: I wouldn’t call it politics per se – but Albert was influenced by things in the world. One of the dresses on display His work in 2014 is called “Peace Dress”. This dress was first shown at the initiative of Chagall Brides and in a museum in Israel in 2014, but it was at the same time that a major military operation was taking place. There were bombs and sirens, and he asked to change the name of this dress to a peace dress. These have beautiful white wings.

He can dream really big. To show the many layers of his human path and individual psyche, his clothing is also inspired by his personal character. His sister told me that when he was in the military, he would take his uniform, tear it up, and add safety pins to make it fashionable. “How can you go to the army dressed like this?” I told him. He got along well with people, he just made it work. Nobody said anything. “Alber, the day you stop making safety pins is the day you become a fashion designer,” his mother told him.

I think the love for the accessories that stand out, the zippers and buttons, and the fasteners that were in the open – that really added something to couture that hadn’t been seen before. He was exposing the architecture of things and he preferred imperfection. He has often said that there is nothing after perfection. The way things were torn, the raw edges, the way you could see how the clothes were made was more interesting to him than the flawless clothes – and I’m sure that’s from looking at Israel and understanding your place in the world and beyond. Then take it.

it is. It is still a topic of great debate Whether fashion is in museums. What is your opinion about this exhibition in particular?

Yara Keider: I think we know now that fashion can relate to people’s hearts. It should not be what you wear and what you wear. It was the language of fashion for Albert; Fashion included way more than fabric. It’s not always the front or the back of the garment that matters, but what’s inside, he said. His politics, his thoughts on life and his big dreams are intertwined in his designs. I might add to this what Maya Dvash, head curator of the Design Museum, recently wrote: ‘Proponents of fashion as art speak of a new museology, which is fashion as part of a larger cultural view in context and argue that one cannot begin to describe the history of design and art, or any history at all, without fashion. ‘ Likewise, one cannot begin to describe the history or future of fashion without Albert Elbaz – still forcing us all to dream big with the inspiring legacy he left behind.