For his very first runway show under his own label for New York Fashion Week, Israeli-American designer Kobi Halperin knew exactly the message he wanted to send: hope.
On Sunday, Halperin concluded his show at Soho’s Splashlight Studios for his Fall 2024 collection, titled “Illumination of Hope,” with an instrumental version of “Hatikvah,” Israel’s national anthem, which translates to “The Hope.”
“To me, it just felt right,” Halperin, 51, told the New York Jewish Week. “I wanted it — it was my moment and I wanted to use it to make people feel good about who we are [as Israelis].”
“I felt like it was necessary,” he added about his show’s moving finale, which has been viewed more than 160,000 times on the Jews of NY Instagram account. “I am so overwhelmed that it has made so many people cry and so many people actually feel good about themselves. That’s more important than anything else — it’s more important than the statement of the fashion.”
Source - JTA/X - Video source - Danielleyablonka/Instagram