March/ April Wrapt

They say the world is getting smaller thanks to the web. With every new social platform the dissemination of information is faster, easier and in many cases freer. They say our digital borders are falling away and the world of information is more accessible. However, in certain contexts, these borders are still very much entrenched. This is definitely the case of the international Jewish community, my community, where cross pollination between sects or international waters simply does not exist. 

Two years ago I moved from Australia to Israel and it quickly became apparent to me that in spite of paying attention to the bigger headlines regarding Israel’s Socio-Political and Cultural systems, I had barely scratched the surface. I was, for lack of a better term, woke and I still knew nothing. But after working with a couple designers and tastemakers here it became apparent I was completely lacking in this area. After coming to terms with my shame, I realized the problem was lost in translation. Due to cultural signifiers lost on the unknowing and language barriers we tend to paint things in broad strokes. What little we knew becomes all we know and more than often it stops there. We need to transcend this.

In the past year in Israel, we saw the Layers project turn blog to online magazine (https://www.thelayersprojectmagazine.com), we saw Pony magazine birth itself as an online Instagram magazine (https://www.instagram.com/ponystylemagazine/) and in the United States, Valour Magazine was born as a subscription-based print magazine aimed at the stylish and the modern religious woman (https://www.valour-magazine.com/valour-magazine/). Before this, aimed at a similar audience of fashion forward and modest women we had Modist and Covered, both online magazines and printed quarterly. Not to mention all of the existing international publications such as Vogue, Harpers Bazaar, Elle, Instyle and those local to Israel, Fashionforward, Pnai Plus, Leisha, Nashim and Pnima for the more religious.  These exist and the demand continues to grow because there is a need, a thirsty audience.

We consume, applaud and champion all these media houses but we were still left wanting. We were wanting a cover of the diverse local and international fashion scene, serious crafted criticism, a beauty industry-less engagement with cultural production, a truer and sincere representation of the wider- female populace, we were wanting a magazine that we felt comfortable to leave around our daughters. So we decided to step up and try do it. We won’t always get it right, but we will die trying.

So, it is with great excitement that I share what to expect from our first real month live. We will kick off by covering Tel Aviv Fashion Week (10th – 13th March) and the pop-up events that surround it. Coming off the heels of the International fashion weeks (New York, London, Milan and Paris) it will be interesting to see how the trends are interpreted and represented here. We have also covered the exciting new collaboration, Urban Gypsy, by the very talented designers Amarit Altoree (Arabesqua) and Kobi Golan. We also look forward to some trend forecasts and curated inspiration for the upcoming festive season. 

We are grateful to share this experience with you,

Chav and Team Wrapt