The Phoenix Group hosted a gala event on Thursday evening marking the conclusion of Shenkar’s 2026 graduate fashion show week at the Phoenix Campus Museum in Rishon Lezion.
Thirty-five graduates of Shenkar’s Fashion Design Department presented their final collections during the event, which was held as part of an ongoing strategic partnership between the financial group and the academic institution.
The collections drew on personal experiences involving love, loss, memory, home and identity, translating them into contemporary designs presented on the runway.
The partnership is intended to support creativity, innovation and emerging Israeli designers while exposing graduates’ work to members of the fashion industry, business leaders and a wider audience.
Personal experiences take the runway
Shenkar described the annual graduate show as a meeting point between academia, fashion, culture and industry, as well as an opportunity for a new generation of designers to enter the professional fashion world.
Ilan Beja, head of Shenkar’s Fashion Design Department, said the 2026 graduating class examined some of people’s “most intimate and vulnerable spaces,” with collections confronting personal and social realities.
The graduates sought to give a visible form to experiences that are often hidden, finding creative possibilities in imperfection and brokenness, he said.
The gala was attended by Phoenix Group chairman Benny Gabbay, Phoenix Group CEO Eyal Ben Simon and Orit Efrati, chairwoman of Shenkar’s Board of Trustees, alongside figures from the fashion, academic and business communities.
The graduate show was held at the Phoenix Campus Museum as part of the continuing collaboration between Shenkar and the Phoenix Group, which aims to promote Israeli creativity and provide young designers with access to industry professionals and opinion leaders.