Those who know me also know of my love for Israel. it is no secret: every time I can, I go spend a few days there to relax, to soak up the sun and take some positive energy, drinking arak with my friends at any time of day. What may come as news to many is that Tel Aviv has its very own fashion week. Yes it does, and it is on its fifth edition, thanks to producer and former model Motty Reif. Every year, he invites local brands, some better known than others, to offer them a chance to have a show in their own country. It was pretty easy to decide to accept the invitation, pack my bag randomly and make my way to the White City. I was very curious about this experience, to discover what fashion means in a country where Teva sandals and Blundstone are as close as I ever got to it! ? For the first year, the Gindi TLV Fashion Week shows took place in a new luxury mall, the Gindi TLV Fashion Mall, so new that it is actually still unfinished, and will only open to the public in the next few months. The atmosphere there was very different from any of the other fashion weeks I have ever been to: the models were mostly local celebrities, and the guests were not at all reluctant to vigorously applaud their favorite outfits when they saw them, or to throw flowers at the designers at the end of the show — all of which would make for a pretty unusual sight in the 4 traditional cities of fashion. I even saw several kids and a few dogs in the front row.

I saw lots of collec...