Who: Shahar Avnet.

What: Fashion Designer & Artist.

Where: Tel Aviv, Israel (online for everyone)

Hello Shahar! Would you care to share a little about yourself? For instance, your upbringing, were you always creative as child?

 Hi! I'd love to share with you. I was a very creative child, and very 'dolled-up' – I loved getting dressed and wearing makeup and putting on costumes. As I grew older I got to know more about textiles and as a teen I started to knit and stich. I always wanted to draw but never could. I remember being envious of people who could draw.

When did you realize you wanted to pursue a career in the arts and fashion?

When I was 15 my grandmother taught me how to knit, and when I knitted my first scarf and ran out of yarn. She showed me how to attach a new thread of yarn to my knitting – I chose a bright Boudreaux color entwined with a metallic gold. When my scarf was finished I suddenly realized that I can imagine something in my head and then make it real. This idea charmed me and in that moment I decided I'll be a fashion designer. Until this day I have no idea how I got to think that, but I did. When it comes to art it’s a different story, because I never thought I could draw! It's something I found out in design school and I've been doing it [drawing] ever since. It makes me so happy that I can continue to go in this direction as well.

Was there someone or something that influenced your decision?

Both of my grandmothers came from the world of clothing. One of them was a seamstress who ran a sewing factory in a Kibbutz in Israel and the other one was constantly sewing. There were times when I stood by her for hours as she was making me dresses. I'm sure this had great influence on me.

What was the process finding your own artistic style?

The first instruction I got from my teacher at school when I first started drawing was to let go of any criticism I have towards my work. It's very difficult to draw if you're thinking to yourself the whole time 'my God, this is so ugly!', so at first I decided to stop thinking like that. I said to myself 'you are in a process of learning, and if you knew how to draw you wouldn't have gone to design school…'. With time I stopped being hard on myself and started having fun and enjoying what I was doing. I believe that when you do something whole heartedly it will always come out "right" – as long as it's true to your heart.    

It seems as if your art and life merge into one? The body as a canvas? How would you explain your work? Your process?

During my time studying at 'Shenkar' I took a course where we had to design an outfit inspired by a short story of a very talented Israeli writer called Etgar Keret. I finished this course with two words in my head: RELATIONSHIP and FEAR. At that time I felt completely stuck and couldn’t design anything. This was at the end of the semester so the teachers were evaluating our garments. I went to listen to one of my classmate's evaluation and from listening to what the teacher told her I immediately knew what I had to do. I went home that day and started going through all my old journals and diaries, looking for events that happened to me and had to do with relationships and fear. I ended up writing quotes from my diary and drawing something that expressed how I felt. After that course was finished it was clear that I found my creative process, and I continue to work like this today.

When crafting your clothes, what is the ideal end result? How do you want women to look or feel?

Generally I believe in being comfortable and I think that clothes are a celebration of happiness that should make women feel beautiful, desirable and sexy. I don't believe that the clothes we wear should make us suffer – on the contrary, they should give us pleasure! When I make clothes this is what I have in mind, and even if I have in ideal in my head that I'm trying to reach in a finish garment I always "listen" to the fabric and let the fabric's qualities lead. If I try to do something and it doesn't turn out like I thought it would I let the fabric show me the way. I never get into an argument with my clothes.

Can you discuss your process when starting to work on a new collection?

When I start to work on a new collection I take some time to think about what interests me at the moment, and sometimes the inspiration comes by itself. When I started working on my S/S 2018 collection I was in an emotional thunderstorm and I couldn't think about anything else, so it was totally clear to me that I was going to take this storm and turn into a source of inspiration. A strong emotional surge always pushes me to create art so it seems natural to design clothes out of it as well. At the end of it I learn new things about myself and my life so it's a win-win situation. 

Continued...Your pieces are so delicate and exquisite, a merge between fashion and art, is it difficult to work in this medium?

 For me it's not difficult at all because one thing always leads on to the next. Sometimes a drawing is a jumpstart for a dress and sometimes a coat turns in to a drawing. It's almost as if it happens by itself.

Who or what inspires you?

Our world is kind of amazing so there are so many thing that inspire me. I try to stay very much alive so that I can catch inspiration – I go to museums, galleries, the theater, dance shows, listen to new music, go out dancing and make time to meet old friends and new people.

If you could share a piece of advice with other artists around the world, what would you say? What have you learned over the years to be true?

Love yourself. Everything else will work out on its own.

VISIT: http://www.shahar-avnet.com/