April 2012 saw Tel Aviv’s first Bridal Fashion Week, featuring fifty up and coming Israeli designers. Israel’s lucrative bridal fashion business is on the rise. And now it appears that Natalie Portman’s eco-friendly engagement ring or vegan shoes are not the only green, Israeli trendsetter snagging headlines.
Israeli designer Liraz Rubbin uses natural materials and prides herself on not letting any material go to waste. “We invested over 170 hours working only on making the train, because we used fabric leftovers,” Rubbin described one of her creations. “Maybe it does not pay off in terms of cost, but it certainly does in terms of the final product—for the environment, for me, and also for the client.”
Tel Aviv has many names. It is called “Sin City” and “The City that Never Sleeps,” but it is also widely known as the city of singles on the hunt. According to a report in 2010, 44 percent of women 30-34 years old in Tel Aviv are single. There are countless bridal boutiques in Tel Aviv, especially along Dizengoff Street.
Rubbin has used her designs to raise awareness about local environmental issues, as she did in the 2010 Sea of Galilee fashion design competition.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3IXqlYayceI[/youtube]
Rubbin advocates for the reuse of wedding dresses, dying and altering them to make something the bride will wear again or reshaping an old bridal gown into a new creation. Reusing and recycling fashion has become increasingly popular across the Middle East, case and point, My Ex Wardrobe in Dubai. Rubbin’s ability to create unique formal gowns with reduced carbon footprints has promising potential for how the boutiques of Dizengoff can continue to thrive without sacrificing environmental ethics.
::NTDTV
Above image via NTDTV screenshot
Author: Leigh Cuen
Leigh Cuen is a freelance journalist currently reporting from Israel. She has written for the Earth Island Journal, the San Francisco Public Press, the Palestinian News Network, J. weekly newspaper and the Women News Network. Follow her @La__Cuen.
Women will anyway pay outrageous prices for a wedding dress. The money may as well be well spent.