Back to the Runway: Webinar on the World of Fashion and Design

At the initiative of Sigalit Ben Hayoun, Head of the TAU Alumni Organization, four alumni spoke in a webinar titled ‘Back to the runway’ about the changes the COVID-19 era brought into the fashion and design industry.

Participated:

• Tal Granovsky Amit, Fashion Historian, Lecturer and Director of the Rose Archive for Fashion & Textile, Shenkar, alumna of the Faculty of the Arts
• Ori Lehavi, Owner, CEO and Creative Director of "Daniella Lehavi", Alumnus of the Coller School of Management
• Yossi Harari, International Jewelry Designer, Alumnus of the Faculties of Humanities and of Social Sciences
• The event was moderated by Elinor Dvir, Fashion and Lifestyle Journalist and Content Editor at Walla! Fashion, Alumna of the Faculty of Engineering

Among other things, Tal Granovsky Amit said:

"The tension between what’s real and the digital world, which was not sufficiently present in the fashion world, succeeded to enter it during the COVID era."

"The fashion world manages to make a very creative adaptation these days - and creativity is the name of the game."

"I don’t think we will go out of the house wearing sweatpants soon, other than for the purpose of walking the dog."

Yossi Harari said:

"In the last year, everybody learned that Less is more. There was an 'over' of everything. Too many products on the shelves... in quantities. And that created confusion in every industry."

"E-Commerce knocked out the retail world a few years ago already... This year, E-Commerce was a very good source, more than any other year before, because the stores were closed and people were at home and started buying things for themselves."

"Instagram creates a direct dialogue between the designer and his target market."

Ori Lehavi said:

“Everything in fashion becomes much more casual, because there are no events to dress up for. The same goes for shoes too - the line is more casual, and sales of shoes have increased greatly. '

"Customers have developed new habits this year."

"Our private customers have moved online. Overnight, our website became our strongest store, The largest and most influential showcase.'

"When there are no exhibitions, it is more difficult to reach new wholesale customers abroad, and for designers who haven’t built a database yet it is even more challenging."

Among the alumni who watched the webinar live:

Nadav Palti, Chairman of Mapal Communications and CEO & President of Dori Media Group; Carmela Avner, VP Business Transformation & partnership Management, Strauss Water; Hava Katz, Chief Curator at the Israel Antiquities Authority; Hezi Himelfarb, Entrepreneur, CEO of O2Cure; Tamar Ariav, Former President of the Beit-Berl College, and many others.