After falling in love with Varanasi’s wild silk and the meticulous handiwork of its locals, Israeli Yarden Moshe unexpectedly returned to Israel with a clothing brand
Yarden Moshe found love in India, not the ‘boy-meets-girl’ kind, but instead, with something a little bit more unusual- fabric. “In 2017, I went to Varanasi, and one day, as I was walking through one of the alleys, I passed a sewing shop and there was someone wearing a cloth that made me just stop. I immediately fell in love with its rough texture, a prominent crisscross, and later I realized it was wild silk. It was clear to me that I had to use this material to make and design a garment. Two and a half months later, I returned to Israel with my first collection.”
© Asaf Einy
The 12 models she brought back with her to Israel marked the birth of Jahta, which, meaning “dreadlocks” in Hindu, is Moshe’s first clothing brand and her first experience in fashion design. “To create in fashion was a dream that at that moment, in Varanasi, suddenly felt most logical and natural to me. I would just sit in the sewing shop every day, go through sketches and develop the clothes.” The result is minimalist and unisex items with clean lines, meticulous sewing and environmental ideology. “The designs are made from natural fabrics - cotton, wild silk and linen; they are airy and breathable, without polyester and plastic and therefore are one with nature and earth. It is important for me to convey this message of sustainability and environmental protection.”
© Asaf Einy
The encounter with different worlds, such as Israel and India, and with a different pace of life is also expressed in the clothes. “The clothes are in two shades - black and white/beige. The choice of these two colors symbolizes two worlds that exist within me; one is nature and wood, the other is city and concrete. The colors make it possible to choose who I am and what suits me right now. This balance between the two worlds (quiet versus noise) is a balance that I seek in my life.”
© Asaf Einy
Moshe’s new collection launched at the beginning of the month. “This is the first collection that breaks out of my close circle to a wider audience. The first collection was something very experimental that was built when I was in India. For the current collection, I did a few months’ work before going to India and I was more precise and I cut down the world of inspiration. The process was tighter and more professional.”
© Asaf Einy
Moshe defines her designs as genderless. The expression, she says, is in the clothes that everyone on the gender spectrum will feel comfortable wearing. Most of the clothes are one-size, the rest are marked as sizes 1 and 2. “The unisex is expressed in very broad cuts, in clothes that do not emphasize anything or hide something else. The desire to shape the clothes in this way comes from a place of choice – why should you have to decide to say that something is only one thing and not another when you can be everything? These questions are finally being asked in the fashion world, and clothes should give them room.”
The prices of the items in the collection are between NIS 420-1,200; Available at Plasma, 14 King George St, Tel Aviv or jahtawear.com