"Israel Fashion Art" was given as a gift to TV stars Tsipi Shavit & Hani Nachmias

A 2004 image exclusive to "Israel Fashion Art" by Nurit Bat-Yaar. Design: Mor Hemed, Bezalel. Photo: Dafna Grossman.

Hi, Yesterday while I was attending the opening of a photography exhibition of Mula Eshet (some of  whose best images are included in my book "Israel Fashion Art") I was approached by a lovely lady who told me that my "album book is simply fantastic. It is so enchanting that I buy it as presents to my friends", she added."I have already given it to (comedy and TV star) Tsipy Shavist as well as to (singer and TV star) Hani Nachmias" This certainly made my day. Although I've heard it more than once I never tire of hearing and reading people who are kind enough to share with me the enjoyment they derive from the book's "encompassing text" and/or its "breathtaking images

Here are some more heartwarming responses the book "Israel Fashion Art"
"שיכרון עיצובים - אמנות האופנה בישראל"
received: 
Television host of channel 1 Lucy Aharish wrote to me: It was a pleasure and an honor to have you on our program and to praise such an interesting and invested book".  Yaheli Hashefa wrote: "Nurit the book is a masterpiece... as far as I'm concerned it's an art book". Ron Grundland, Gottex CEO, said "the book is stunning''  and Yafa Grebenau, former fashion exporter wrote: "Nurit, you deserve the Golden Needle Award .....".

  Thank you so much dear Yafa, Ron, Yaheli, Lucy and all the other readers who bothered to share with me their enthusiasm about the book:

הילה סדומיניישן                   Sept, 18, 2011        , Hila Sadomination Glam

שלום נורית.

אצטרף בשמחה לעמוד שלך, יש ברשותי את הספר ואני מעיינת בו לעתים קרובות. אכן ספר נהדר. ח"ח על היוזמה.

פנינה סלע   Pnina Sela, journalist. Sept. 23, 2011                                 

‏ ‏"עיינתי בספר והוא פשוט מדהים , יש לשווקו גם בחו"ל"‏

יעל ודן פתיר   Yael & Dan Patir, Former Press Attache in D.C. Sept.28, 2011

יעל: "נורית,  הספר הוא מאסטרפיס". דן: אני מצדיע לך על הספר הנהדר הזה.

הוא כ"כ מקיף, מושקע ומוקפד. פסיק לא הייתי משנה בו".

יהלי השפע      Yahli Hashefa, FB. Sept. 30, 2011                                     

 ‏"נורית הספר הוא יצירת מופת את יכולה להעלות ממנו תמונות זה לא משנה את העובדה דווקא התמונות הן שמעוררות עניין ורצון לקנות את הספר בעיני הוא ספר אומנות וכמובן שנמצא אצלי בספריה"

לוסי אהריש       Lucy Aharish, TV's channel 1 interviewer. Oct. 2, 2011

יקירתי היה לי העונג והכבוד לארח אותך ולפרגן לספר כל כך מושקע ומעניין...ולגבי התגובות לא היה לי צל של ספק! שיהיה המשך הצלחה בכלל ועם הספר בפרט שאין לי ספק, ימשיך לקצור מחמאות ותשבוחות.. ותודה לך על שצירפת אותי לחברייך.

שתהיה שנה טובה ושבוע מקסים

לוסי

יפה גרבנאו       Yaffa Grebenau, former model & exporter. Oct.4, 2011     

שנה נהדרת לך נורית.. מלאת שיכרון של עיצובים, ואמנות האופנה בישראל! מגיע לך פרס ' מחט הזהב ' ... היה פעם פרס כזה, נכון?

רון גרונדלנד               Ron Grundland, Gottex CEO. Oct. 6, 2011             

הספר נראה מדהים.

מאוד מושקע ומעלה זיכרונות.

תודה רבה

ישראל רבינוביץ    Israel Rabinovitz, Art prof. at Kay college. Oct.8, 2011    בהצלחה עם הספר. אהבתי אותו מאד. המשך שבוע מבורך וחג שמח.

חיה מיכלסון     , FB. Oct.15, 2011                                      Chaya Michelson

היי נורית, הצטרפתי בשמחה לעמוד שלך, אני מכירה את הספר שלך ומאוד התרשמתי ממנו ולמדתי ממנו רבות.

איתי לפיד  Itay Lapid, Fashion designer. FB. Oct. 23, 2011                         

נורית היקרה שלום. לכבוד הוא לי להיות לך לחבר, אפילו אם זה רק לדפי הפייסבוק. בהחלט אכנס ללינקים ששלחת לי ואמשיך להתרשם מעבודתך המדהימה לתשוקתינו המשותפת- אופנה. בזמן לימודי האופנה שלי גילית אותך ומאז...משהו השתנה:)

אני מאמין גדול במשפט "אדם שאינו מכיר את עברו, העתיד לא יכיר אותו", ועל כן אני קורא את "שיכרון העיצובים" שוב ושוב, ובכל פעם מחדש נפעם מרמת התחקיר, התמונות המדהימות והחן שבו כתוב הספר. אמנם אני רק בן 25, ורק מתחיל את דרכי בעולם האופנה עם המותג שלי שבטח ראית(פה בפייסבוק יש דף של המותג בשם Gor-Mette ), אבל אני יכול לומר לך בבטחה שהשפעתך בעולם האופנה, גם כיום, ניכרת מאוד. את אישה מלאה 
בטוב טעם, שיק, ותרומתך לעולם האופנה בארצנו הקטנטונת היא אמיתית.

מעריץ נלהב :)
בהערכה רבה.
איתי לפיד.

   
This is the 16th bunch of responses to the book I'm uploading. The previous ones were posted on  Feb, 20, 2010,on Aug, 3, 2010, on Aug, 13, 2010, on Sept. 16, 2010, on Oct. 6, 2010, on Oct.23, 2010, on Nov. 26, 2010 ,on Dec. 16, 2010, on Jan.2, 2011, on March 16, 2011, on May 20 2011 on June 27, 2011 and on Aug. 1, 2011 posts. Oct. 3, 2011 and Dec. 1, 2011.
Responses from the Academy were posted on (May 3, 2010 ), Museum Curators (July 18, 2010), and the Press (June 15, 2010) .
Shimon Peres, Israel's President's so highly appreciated, heart-warming response was posted on Oct. 15, 2010.

The Royale Wedding and "Israel Fashion Art 1948-2008"

Hi, I had the pleasure and honor to view the fantastic Royal wedding of Prince charming William and his beautiful Kate Middleton from Israel's Channel 1 television broadcasting studio since I was invited by the broadcast producer Maya Talmon to join the channel's two major stars David Vitstum and Oren Nahari and commentate alongside them about the wedding's guests' fashion.

Upon returning home I was very happy to see the great responses my Facebook friends left me on my wall about the "excellent" and "captivating" way my comments were presented. The next day another pleasant surprise awaited me at the Walla website

מצב רוח מרוממה: ערוץ 1 - המנצח הגדול של סיקור החתונה המלכותית
http://e.walla.co.il/?w=%2F269%2F1819198   in which Avner Shavit announced that
channel 1 gave the winning royal wedding broadcast mentioning me as well as the best among the various t.v. fashion commentators of the wedding.

What does all this has to do with my album book "Israel Fashion Art 1948-2008"?
Firstly, I was introduced on the t.v's screen as the author of the book. So, the book participated in the celebration too.  The book was also on the commentators' table since
I was hoping to show during the broadcast a lovely photo of the mother of the groom, Princess Diana, which is featured in it. The reason being: Diana Queen of Hearts was a fan of Israel's Gottex beachwear and in all her beach and yacht pictures published in all of England's newspapers during the months prior to her tragic death - she was wearing the Lea Gottlieb for Gottex swimsuits.


A 92 beachwear by Lea Gottlieb of Gottex in a Patrick Demarchelier photo modeled by Naomi Campbell



Princess Diana with Lea Gottlieb of Gottext in an exclusive photo
of "Israel Fashion Art 1948-2008" album book by Nurit Bat-Yaar
Photo: Pauline Lewis.

The photo appears in the book's chapter about the success stories of Israeli fashion around the world while the story about Princess Diana and Mrs. Gottlieb's meeting, as it was told to me by Mrs. Gottlieb in her fantastic garden-like Tel-Aviv apartment, opens the beachwear's chapter. Although, finally I didn't show the photo during the broadcast - I did mention the fact that my father served in the British army during WWII and that several years ago the three medals he was granted for it by the British government were incorporated in a special military inspired jacket which designer Shalom Hai Halevi designed for me. This being another British story mentioned in the book
"שיכרון עיצובים - אמנות האופנה בישראל".
Now, I'm trying to put my hands on a recording of television's channel 1 broadcast of the Royal Wedding so I can share with you guys at least a part of it.

Ancient Egypt and "Israel Fashion Art 1948-2008" - Album-Book fit for Passover.

Photo from "Israel Fashion Art 1948-2008". Designed for Gottex by Lea Gottlieb. Photographer: Nira David Dror.

Hi, Passover, the holiday in which families recall and commemorate the exodus from Egypt, is around the corner so what would be a better time to share with you the fact that "Israel Fashion Art - 1948-2008" "שיכרון עיצובים - אמנות האופנה בישראל 1948-2008"
includes a chapter about the influence of Ancient Egypt on Israeli fashion design.
The chapter is called "From Pharos daughters to Sadat peace visit to Israel".

I have always believed that one of the important attributes of great original fashion designers was the fact that they drew inspiration from their cultural heritage, be it Cristobal Balenciaga who inserted Spanish elements in his famed Parisian creations, YSL who was inspired by the coloration and richness of exzotic Algeria of his early years, or Issay Miake whose Japanese heritage is evident in his work.

Hence, I've decided to emphasize in my album-book Israeli fashion designs which also drew inspiration from the country's cultural heritage. And Ancient Egypt certainly played a very important part in this heritage. One of the most prominent designers who expressed her enchantment with the artistic elements of Egypt was Lea Gottlieb of Gottex who created the beachwear seen in the picture above. As soon as the peace treaty with Egypt was signed Mrs. Gottlieb also sent photographer Nira David-Dror along with a couple of models, Tami Ben-Ami (seen here) and Hani Perry to have her designes photographed near the Sphynx and the Pyramids.

In the relevant chapter I traced various aspects of our Egyptian history starting with Pharos daughters, one of which discovered and saved the life of Moses and another who became King Salomon's wife. I continued by mentioning one Egyptian historian's theory according to whom Moses was in fact one of the Pharos.

It occurred to me that this link of Israeli fashion design to Ancient Egypt as described and elaborated on in this chapter of the book makes the album-book a proper holiday gift for Passover. Certainly an un-expected, original one. Don't you think?

International Singing Star Ofra Haza in "Israel Fashion Art - 1948-2008"

Hi, שיכרון עיצובים - אמנות האופנה בישראל 1948-2008 ‎'s FACEBOOK FAN CLUB has now over 1200 FANS. I appreciate it very much DEAR FANS. On this special occasion I uploaded an Ofra Haza image from the book with her golden coins hood (taken by Moshe Sasson).
Ofra Haza wasn't just a fantastic singer, highly successful world-wide. She was also a fashion icon who inspired designers with her unique performance garb which incorporated her cultural heritage.

One of these outfits included this Yemenite coin hood, which was worn in Yemen by all Hebrew newly weds and which was in fact their survival kit. A type of portable "bank" from which they can draw money in case of need.

Inspired by this type of hoods as well as by the Beduine facial coin chains - in the 60s "Maskit" designer Fini Leitersdorf incorporated golden coins in her original Israeli designs thus turning them into one of the typical aspects of Israeli style. Lea Gottlieb of Gottex also adorned her unique colorful ethnic beachwear with coins.

Later on, other Israeli fashion designers such as Shai Shalon and Silvia Vered used coins in a more up to date designs. To see them and read about them - you are invited to go to the coins chapter of "Israel Fashion Art 1948-2008" called " Coins – from a Portable Bank to the Sexiest Beachwear" .

Simona of "Fashion Israel" Blog: "Israel Fashion Art": "Really Great Take On Israeli Fashion"

Hi, One can't top the most exciting and heart-warming description/title: "A Masterpiece" which "Israel Fashion Art - 1948-2008" album-book
"שיכרון עיצובים - אמנות האופנה בישראל"
received a few days ago from the Chief Curator of Ramat-Gan's Museum of Israeli Art, Meir Ahronson (See previous post). But this doesn't lessen my enjoyment from other appreciative responses the book gets.

Yesterday, I discovered one such article published by Simona "an American in Israel" in her blog "Fashion Israel" (see link above). In her post devoted to the country's 62nd Independence Day, Simona writes: "For a really great take on Israeli Fashion  from the beginning of the creation of the state, check out Nurit Bat-Yaar's album book Israel Fashion Art 1948-2008....Even if you can't read Hebrew, its definitely an impressive look at the shaping of a new and beautiful country through fashion...it does have an English introduction... In any case a picture is worth a thousand words in fashion!
Rightfully so, Yuli Ziv of the site My It Things, proudly calls it Israel fashion bible!......you must read Yuli's interview with the "First Lady of Israeli fashion" published this past March. It gives you all true insight into the world of Israeli fashion then and now."

In the Ben Lam photo above (featured in Yuli Ziv's article) is a Lea Gottlieb design from 1976 for "Gottex" from the book's chapter on bathing suits: "Israel Miss World of Beachwear Fashion."

Thanks so much, Simona.

"Israel Fashion Art 1948-2008" TV Ch 2 Interview March 1, 2010

Hi, Today I would like to share with you the first TV interview about the "ISRAEL FASHION ART 1948-2008"album-book.

"שיכרון עיצובים - אמנות האופנה בישראל"

It was screened on TV Channel 2's morning show hosted by TV star Moshe Datz on March 1, 2010,

shortly after the book came out. Datz was very enthusiastic introducing the book as an amazing encyclopedia. Although the interview began with a discussion about Maskit, the first uniquely Israeli fashion house, the first pictures displayed in the program were of my early modeling days, in an orange grove in preparation for a popular orange-picking postcard, modeling Elanit Knits outfit, and a calendar for a color manufacturing company.

Subsequently, some of the book's photos were displayed including a Fini Leitersdorf for Maskit gown inspired by a Yohanan Simon painting, a Vitzo-Haifa creation, a Leah Gottlieb for Gottex beachwear set, a Rozi Ben-Yosef kefeya inspired design, and a Yaron Minkowski Eurovision dress made out of Bucharian embroidered tablecloth, which Orna Datz performed in. Yoav Meir was sitting beside me in the studio during the interview. He was a Project Runway participant who now has his own TV program "Urban Fashion."