| Marcelle Klein | Sensual Shapes |
| I can say with out a doubt that Marcelle is my clay idol! It looks like she dances with the material. Her work intrigues me and makes me want to start experience with clay. She makes it look so much fun! www.marcelleklein.com |
| Anat Steindler | Connect the dots |
| If you are not familiar with Gertrud’s fashion house most likely you won’t recognize Anat’s unique touch. It took me a while but finally I found the women behind the dots. Anat’s work is very distinct and once you’ve seen it you won’t forget it! Here is part of the “women” series she designs every year to celebrates woman’s day at Gertrud. You can get in touch with Anat here: anat.steindler {at} gmail {dot} com |
| Zaya | Avital Coorsh | Leather Sculpture |
| I’ve been waiting for a long long time for Avital’s new collection but meanwhile I guess it won’t hurt to share with you her breathtaking talent. Avital has a unique and distinct way of working with leather as her main material. If what you are looking for is a statement, piece of art, Avital’s creations are your answer. On a side note, I have to add that it is not that easy to find details regarding Avital’s world of design but I won’t give up just yet and I’ll let you know what I’ll find out. You can get in touch with Avital here: nogaav {at} ginegar {dot} net |
| Whimsy Treasures | Ball of Pearls |
| For some reason, this necklace reminded me of times when things weren’t complicated. Sometimes being simple and minimalistic is all I need. You can have your own simplicity right here. |
| Vons | Yael Yarzin | Royalty World |
| If Alice in wonderland is your cup of tea, you have to visit Yael’s world of royalty. The colors, the textures, the shapes, they all put smile on my face and help me pretend for a little while that I’m part of Alice’s magical world. www.vonsdesign.com |
| Naomi Shiek | Paper Cut |
| I’m obsessed with all things paper for as long as I can remember so I couldn’t be happier when I discovered Naomi’s work of art. What an amazing eye for details this girl has! You can find her work on her Etsy Shop and if I were you I wouldn’t miss her blog. You can get in touch with Naomi here: naomis{dot} illu {at} gmail {dot} com _ Some of my favorite paper links: Zoe Bradley, Yulia Brodskaya, Charles Clary and hand cut maps by Karen m. O’leary. I have to mention the Mad museum’s “Slash: Paper Under the Knife” exhibition. My wish list: Papercraft and Paper: Tear, Fold, Rip, Crease, Cut books. |
| OOLALAA | Cockroach Visit |
| Had to share this one with you! I find it so hilarious. If I had to rank my cockroaches fear it will be way up, actually it will top all my others. Would you wear a cockroach as an accessory? I have to think about this one ;) In the meanwhile you can take a look at OOLALAA’s breathtaking collection right here. oolalaa.carbonmade.com |
| Orly Edlavitch | Creatures |
| One of Orly’s sources of inspiration are Vinyl toys or “new figurines” as she calls them. As I have an obsession for Kidrobot’s Dunny’s figure and I have lots of them I was drawn to Orly’s ceramic world. “My work consist of figures that were re-assembled in a traditional way. In my work I have tried to compare the ceramic industry of today with that of three centuries ago, and to subvert the existing order by using humor and changing small details. At the beginning of my work process, I collected different objects that served as my vocabulary; these included miniature toys, tableware and industrial figures…” You can get in touch with Orly here: orly_edlavitch {at} yahoo {dot} com |
| Hadas Shaham | Take Two |
| It’s been a while since I shared with you new designs by the talented Hadas Shaham. This time I want to share with you the stunning rings collection that made me speechless for few minutes… It amazes me how unique and different Hadas’s mind works! I love the fact that Hadas found a new way to approach the jewelry scene. www.hadas-shaham.com |
| Michal Koren | White Noise |
| This is a first for me. I discovered Michal’s work after visiting Sigal Ben-David’s Behance page. To tell you the truth, I don’t know which one I like best. I can’t chose! The photographs are a-m-a-z-i-n-g and do justice with Michal’s ceramic creations. I guess this time I’ll let you decide. On a side note, I’m really curious about Michal’s web-site. It looks promising… I hope it will be up soon enough… www.korenstudio.com |
| Claudia Manokian | Hella Ganor | Felt Creation |
| When you take two mad talented designers and mix them together you are headed for a treat! That’s what happened when Claudia Manokian and Hella Ganor met. Their felt jewelery are so simple yet so sophisticated. I hope they will take their collaboration to the next level. _ You can read here the previous post I wrote about Hella Ganor’s work. |
| UMAMY | Concrete World |
| The UMAMY Design Group is one of my favorites. I guess that their new “Grey Area” exhibition is a proper reason to introduce you all to their wicked minds. “The “Grey Area” exhibition, is about concrete. It is about a sensual material who’s value has been demolished. It is about moldable and non moldable shapes.” I’m sure that now you’ll fall in love with their world. BTW, the good news is that you can have your own piece of the UMAMY’s “Grey Area”. www.umamy.com |
| Ruby Star | Shirley Itzik | TimeKillers |
| I’m one of Shirley’s biggest fan for a long long time. It amazes me how much talent can be in one small person. In her collections she constantly plays with the past and the present, femininity and masculinity, romanticism and extreme. Shirley’s Time Killers collection is my favorite by far and I admit that it crossed my mind more than once to purchase lots and lots of necklaces all at the same time ;) I know there are many designers who do what Shirley does with old watches parts but the fact of the matter is that Shirley is the one to beat! Her work is outstanding and breathtaking! www.rubystar.co.il |
| One On One Break | Shankabanka | Shany Harary |
| When I see a design for the first time, especially if I don’t know the designer, I get butterflies and I must find everything I can about it. This is what happened to me when I saw Shany’s prints for the first time. My investigation started with her Sense Of Fashion page and the rest is history… Her color aesthetics and smart prints make me love her “Shankabanka” line even more. I like it when designers don’t treat children as children but as small adults. I’m so happy to share with you Shany’s behind the scenes ;) You can get in touch with Shany here: shanyharary2000 {at} yahoo {dot} com |
| I’d love to hear about you, your journey, how it all began. | |
| I initially planned an academic career in literature. After the army I went to Rome to study English literature at la Sapienza University of Rome. Why Rome? Because that’s what I felt like doing at the time, and when you’re 20 you do what you feel like doing. Life as a poor student forces me (and in hindsight I am thankful for this) to ‘make do’ with second-hand items. Rummaging through markets and stores selling second-hand clothes, of which Rome is plentiful, quickly became an inseparable part of my life and with time I started altering clothes, joining parts of clothes and doing stuff, which I did not know at the time, was in fact customizing. When I received a sewing machine as a gift I started making clothes and bags from anything sewable, for myself and for friends. I started studying fashion and costume at accademia di costume e moda and at the same time my daughter was born. After two years at the academy I returned to Israel, and continued my studies at Shenkar’s Textile Design Department, where I specialized in printing and weaving. During one of the first semester breaks I participated in the T-Market and sold singlets for children and women, some of which I sewed myself and the others I bought and dyed, and added embroidery and buttons. I branded them “Shankabanka”, a name my husband came up with spontaneously when he installed Photoshop on my computer years ago. The demanding studies at Shenkar left me little spare time to develop the brand but from time to time I made a small amount of items and sold them or gave them away, mostly to friends and acquaintances. Until about six months ago I worked as a textile designer for the Carousella design house in Tel Aviv. Working there taught me a lot about quality work, smart management in the industry and guts. Since leaving Carousella, I have been dedicating myself to “Shankabanka”. | Shany |
| Can you describe your work process for me? | |
| Since all my work is hand-made and each item receives “personal treatment”, I create small series of singlets, shirts, bags and accessories by topic, for example, “animals”, “space”, “circles”, “field”. For each topic I select images and print or sew them. Choosing the topics is pretty intuitive and hard to reconstruct, but I will try: It can be a photo I saw in a newspaper, a book I’m reading, a child I saw on the street, a combination of colors I noticed. The ideas mix in my head and somehow, in a way that still seems to me as wondrous, they are eventually translated to a shape and image. One of the most exciting moments at work is searching for the composition. I have been working lately a lot on pair compositions. I make sure that I enjoy working and I do not get bored, because it is clear to me that whatever bores me will also bore the client. If I notice any boredom, I stop and do something else. I dye my products myself and print them using stamps or stencils that I cut myself or have cut by laser according to my own design, using nets (silk screen printing) or objects such as sponges that can be used for printing. Sometimes, instead of printing I sew onto the products, or use a textile marker or embroidery. Sometimes the basic dye is interesting and I don’t feel like hiding it, so I don’t add anything. I try to work with materials that are “friendly” to the customer and the environment, that are not toxic (very important in baby clothes). I want the product to be pleasant and cozy for the customer. “Shankabanka” is primarily for children, but due to demand, I design small quantities for women. I think choosing to focus on children’s products comes from the biological characteristic of “cuteness”, typical of small things: they are attractive, charming and seductive (my daughter is very pleased with this!) However, it is important for me to maintain a high level of sophistication, and use designs that are not too childish or ingratiating, but rather exciting and intelligent. | Shany |
| Who is your ideal costumer? | |
| My designs are intended for customers looking for quality and uniqueness, who are excited about small details and who are willing to dress their child, for example, in a gray singlet with black spots, or a baby girl with a leotard that has fighter planes printed on it. I find that my clients have a sense of humor and very inquisitive and open attitude to fashion and design. | Shany |
| What’s next? What is your dream? | |
| Regarding my future plans, over the past few months I have developed work and friendship relations with several Tel Aviv boutiques that sell Shankabanka items. I plan to open a studio-store in the city where I can work on new products and meet clients. I have no interest in being present in all the possible children’s stores, but to remain exclusive and maintain a context that goes with my designs, regarding style and prices. With regards to dreams: they are many, they are vague, secret and grandiose. At this stage I prefer to keep them to myself. | Shany |
| I’m curious to know where does your inspiration come from? | |
| I have many cultural sources of inspiration, not all of them are necessarily from the world of design or fashion. I think that the combination of all of them together creates my personal style: messy, refined, wild and intimate. | Shany |
| I’d love to hear which web sites and blogs do you visit regularly? | |
| Milk Magazine, Oh Joy, and La Garconne. | Shany |
| Student Break | David Keller | Joyful Stool |
| I got a nice surprise in my mail box today from David. His “Axum and Lalibella” stools were inspired by his daily observation at a center of immigrants from Ethiopia. David’s joyful and colorful stool is upholstered with a rough, almost “impolite” Ethiopian fabric. The rubber joints are hard and aggressive. The stool is forced to be pleasant and comfortable, no matter if it wants it or not. While those immigrants live there for many years it seems to David that they developed dual, Israeli-Ethiopian culture just like his stools. BTW, David is a M.des student at the Bezalel Academy of Art and Design. www.david-keller.com |
