TEL AVIV — The semiannual Designers Shuk, the Israeli term for “market,” featured 120 local, established and new designers here last week hawking discounted clothing and accessories.
This was the 11th year of the market, which is held in February and August and is viewed as Israel’s version of fashion week, a low-key venue to introduce new designers to the local industry. Yam Tiran, who helped create the Shuk, said the event is where many of Israel’s young designers made their first sales.
About 32,000 shoppers descended on the main hall of Tel Aviv’s Exhibition Grounds last weekend, many carrying espressos or Red Bull from the food stands to keep them going.
Israel’s fashion industry, which primarily has developed during the last 10 years, is still emerging as a predominantly casual, ready-to-wear marketplace for the average Israeli. The designers are mainly in there 20s and 30s and are often graduates of the country’s four major art schools: Bezalel, Shenkar, Wizo and Ascola. They tend to move quickly from home studio to opening a Tel Aviv store. The newcomers cater to young, trendy women from Tel Aviv and surrounding towns who want more than the limited styles available from Israeli clothing chains and are willing to pay steep prices.
Many designers credit the Shuk for stimulating interest in fashion. Tiran’s partner, Ida Tzatzoula, started the market at Tel Aviv’s Dizengoff Center in 1996 as more of a crafts fair.
Two years ago, Tiran moved the Shuk to the Exhibition Grounds, where the event grossed about $1 million in sales. The designers pay a nominal fee to participate, and all of them must discount their clothing by 30 to 70 percent, which helps create the market atmosphere. The regular retail price for a shirt, skirt or pair of pants ranges from $35 to $100, so the discounts are significant and a major departure for the industry, which is only now becoming accustomed to the concepts of annual sales and discounts.
Designers sell off their winter collections, and are generally successful, said Or Cohen, who has been offering her costume jewelry collection, called Eva Teffner, at the market for the last seven years. “The Shuk offers you greater exposure and the opportunity to sell to a wider audience,” she said.
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“Everything goes,” said a salesperson at Miko, which makes Asian-inspired vests and skirt wraps using upholstery-style fabrics. “And what we don’t sell at the Shuk, we then sell off at the store and in boutiques that sell our line.”
Tiran said 120 designers participated this year. Some were more established — Ronen Chen, Roni Bar, Shine, Fish ‘n’ Dag and Katomenta, bag designer Kisim and shoe designer Couple Of — with their own stores, studios and, sometimes, exports abroad. About 60 were young and generally new to the market.