Designer David Wexler staged protests on the runway at the opening of Kornet Fashion Week in Tel Aviv against the coalition’s divisive judicial reform.
Jaffa-based Brazilian-Israeli designer Wexler, who specializes in sustainable, upcycled textiles and digitally printed fabrics, had models on the runway protesting the plan.
“Democracy for All” “Clothes for Traitors” (“By Gadim Lebogdam”, a play on words in Hebrew) and “Democracy or Rebellion”, read the cardboard signs held by the models as they marched down the runway.
They were dressed in Wexler’s trademark colorful streetwear, digitally printed fabrics mixed together for work.
A graduate of London’s Shenkar College of Engineering and Design and St Martin’s, Wexler has always been known for pushing the boundaries of society, particularly when it comes to gender and masculinity.
His collection this year focused on recycled fashion designed with artificial intelligence in collaboration with Kornit Digital, the sponsor of the fashion event.
Fashion designer David Wexler models on the balcony during Tel Aviv Kornit Fashion Week, March 19, 2023 (by Hayden Perrier).
Wexler questions the future of fashion with advanced printing technologies to create bespoke collections with textiles.
On Sunday, his model squad fought back in weekly protests around the country, set up in pagan-like battlefields and dressed in colorful contrasting motifs.
A model dressed as a police officer with colorful fabric patches in his shirt pocket handed out fake “fines” to those sitting in the front rows.
“A reality show on the runway,” Wexler called the opening theme for the 12th Fashion Week hosted by Moti Rife.
This year’s event featured 28 shows featuring both leading fashion designers and emerging names in the industry.
Fashion designer David Wexler models on the runway at Tel Aviv Kornit Fashion Week, March 19, 2023 (by Hayden Perior).
Tel Aviv Fashion Week, which runs until March 23, combines fashion shows and events promoting social awareness.
The weekly event includes talks on environmental recycling and sustainability, panels on women’s health, menopause, fertility and body transformation, sexuality and female entrepreneurship.
Hundreds of thousands of Israelis have taken to the streets over the past two months to protest the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s sweeping plans to reform the judiciary and limit the powers of the courts.
Opposition undermines Israel’s democratic character, removes key checks and balances, and leaves ethnic minorities unprotected. Supporters call it a much-needed reform to regulate the activist court.
The Israel Times staff contributed to this report.
