Heroines: Fashion and Hope in World War II

Back in October I went to see the exhibition 'Heroines: Fashion and Hope in World War II' at the Design Museum Holon. The exhibition, which closes in April, looks at design as a symbol of hope during World War II.
The exhibition opens with the story of Hedy Strand, a Czech fashion designer who, together with her husband, perished in the Holocaust. For many years, evidence of Hedy's talent lay hidden in a forgotten envelope kept by relatives in the United States, until her sketches and designs were finally brought to life in an exhibition by the Jewish Museum Milwaukee. The Design Museum Holon has borrowed elements of that exhibition and recreated eight of Strand's design ensembles in Israel, presenting them alongside her personal story. Her design atelier is also reconstructed, complete with a rotating stage that displays her garments as if in a haute couture studio.

The exhibition continues with 'Unarmed Warriors' which follows the women on the American and British home fronts coping with WWII through fashion. Among the items on display are handbags made from telephone wires, original US Air Force makeup compacts, hats, earrings and Forget-Me-Not bracelets worn by women to remember their men fighting abroad. There is a contraption created to draw seams on women's stockings when silk wasn't available, glow-in-the-dark accessories made to light the way during blackouts, and victory pins worn to support the war effort, including diamond versions designed by Cartier.
The accessories in the exhibition are accompanied by the magazine and newspaper advertisements from the 1940s that promoted the items.

A side gallery of the museum includes a selection of items from the Yad Vashem Holocaust Museum in Jerusalem, such as a sweater knitted by a concentration camp victim, made from improvised knitting needles and yarn unravelled from a German soldier's socks, a pendant sculpted from bread, a belt made from electrical wires, and a bra created and sewn from stolen fabric. Each item tells a story of how people maintained their grooming and dignity during dark times.

The upper galleries of the 'Heroines' exhibition looks at life after the war. The longing for new beginnings clashed with shortages on the home front and ongoing rehabilitation processes, but thanks to boundless creativity, various raw materials were transformed into new designs. The first section, 'If There Is Flour, There Is Fashion', displays dresses sewn from patterned flour sackcloth, above, a kind of upcycling effort designed out of necessity.

Following that, 'Around the World' explores how the waterproof, durable escape maps once used by Allied pilots and soldiers were transformed into striking couture dresses after the war. The display features six reproduction dresses made from silk-printed maps, inspired by 1940s designs. In the same space, 'Make Love Not War' presents six reproduction wedding gowns crafted from white parachute silk of the same era, set against the dramatic backdrop of a billowing white parachute, above.

The final section of the 'Heroines' exhibition displays the Gottex bathing suits of designer Lea Gottlieb, the Holocaust survivor who created her swimsuit empire in Israel after the war. From arriving in Israel with nothing, she rose to international fame and became a pillar of Israeli fashion.
The gallery is designed to mimic a massive, empty swimming pool surrounded by women in colourful swimsuits. Gottlieb's iconic collections, drawing on art history, flowers, and traditional handicrafts, have graced the covers of world-famous magazines and were worn by supermodels like Naomi Campbell and Claudia Schiffer. The exhibition also features the swimsuits adored by Princess Diana.

Gottlieb often used daisies in her swimsuit designs, alluding to how she carried a large bouquet of daisies in her native Hungary whenever she went to visit her husband in a forced labour camp, to hide the yellow Jewish star pinned to her clothing and draw less notice from the Nazi soldiers. The daisies appeared over and over again in Gottlieb's designs, on bodices and bottoms of her bikinis and one-piece suits, a personal testament to the designer's intense desire to survive and continue to live and thrive.

At the end, the museum's Lab Space features a special section titled 'Iron Swords Heroines', below, highlighting the stories of women whose actions during the 7th October 2023 attack made a profound impact. The display honours women who fought off terrorists, rescued others, and intervened at critical moments to prevent further violence and save lives. Together, these narratives provide a powerful and moving conclusion to the exhibition.

Libi, Benjo and Galia

A customer asked me if I was available to make a birthday card for her daughter, Libi, who was turning 22 in November. She sent me a recent photo of Libi, along with a picture of Polaris, a program she developed, and her favourite game, Hitster, a party game where players arrange music cards with QR codes on a timeline in chronological order. She also showed me some little yellow and pink duck soaps Libi had made.

The card I created showed Libi holding the little duck soaps in each hand. The game and program she developed are behind her.

"It's amazing. Thank you!" mum wrote to me.

Last year, when Benjo turned 13, I made him a Bar Mitzvah album showing him wearing tefillin (phylacteries). This year mum asked me to make him a 14th birthday card with his computer and the image of a product called SwiftBreak in the background.

I decided to show him working on his Mac laptop, and added the image of SwiftBreak and a big number 14 to the card.

"Thank you so much for the perfect card! It looks just like him! You're amazing!" mum said.

Finally, Galia, a medical student, was going to be starting rotations in a hospital. Hospital rotations are hands-on, supervised work assignments in different medical departments (like surgery, pediatrics, or internal medicine) that medical students complete to gain practical experience in various specialties.

Galia's mum asked me to make her a birthday card with a stethoscope, a white coat and the logo of the Shamir Medical Center, a major hospital in Israel, on it.
Shamir Medical Center used to be known as Asaf Harofeh Medical Center. It was renamed in April 2017. The change occurred after the Israeli government decided to rename the hospital after former Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir. Asaf Harofeh was an ancient Jewish physician who likely lived between the 6th and 10th centuries in Israel. He is credited as the author or co-author of the Sefer Refuot (Book of Medicines). The text contains the first known Hebrew medical oath, similar to the Hippocratic Oath.

Mum was delighted with the card. "Great card, thanks so much." she wrote to me, then sent me some lovely photos of Galia's "white coat" tekes (ceremony), when the medical students all got their white coats and stethoscopes before starting rotations in the hospital.

* This post has been shared on Happiness is Homemade, Craft Schooling Sunday, Mosaic Monday, Busy Monday, Inspire Me Monday, Tuesday Turn About, Creatively Crafty Linky Party and Wonderful Wednesday Blog Hop.

Birthday Cards for Two Young Men in Uniform

I'm sharing the cards I created for these young soldiers on their 19th birthday, but I've removed their names for obvious reasons. For their safety and security, I can't say much about them without revealing too much. What I can share is that their mum asked me to include the badge, coloured beret, boots and weapon from each of the corps they currently serve in. The turquoise beret belongs to the Israeli Artillery Corps, the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) corps responsible for operating medium and long-range artillery.

I'm happy to report that the cards were very well received.

In Israel, military service is simply part of growing up. At 18, Jewish, Druze, and Circassian boys and girls are called up to serve - approximately three years for the boys and two for the girls - while Arab citizens of Israel are not conscripted. There are, of course, exceptions based on health, religious reasons, or other personal circumstances, and each teenager undergoes a full day of tests and interviews known as the Tzav Rishon, the "first draft notice". It is an important moment, the first real step into the world of the IDF.

Following that, every recruit receives a medical profile, which determines where they'll serve. Those with the highest profiles head to the combat units - the infantry brigades, combat intelligence, or engineering. Others are placed in roles like the Armoured Corps, Artillery, Military Police, or Border Police. And many more serve in essential support roles: logistics, adjutant corps, ordnance and all the behind-the-scenes jobs that keep the army running day and night.

Every so often, the question of compulsory service returns to the public debate - should Israel keep the draft or move to an all-volunteer army? In recent months, the issue has become even more heated, especially with growing public pressure on the Haredi community (ultra-Orthodox Jews), who are largely exempt from military service. Their ongoing fight to maintain these exemptions has added yet another layer to the national discussion - one that stirs strong feelings on all sides.
It's a conversation that never really goes away. But for now, with the continued need for a strong and sizeable military, most Israeli families still find themselves standing at induction bases, hugging their 18-year-olds tight. There's enormous pride in that moment, mixed with the very real flutter of fear that comes with letting them go.

* This post has been shared on Dare to Share, Saturday Sparks Link Party, Happiness is Homemade, Mosaic Monday, Busy Monday, Tuesday Turn About and Wonderful Wednesday Blog Hop.