Maskit

Maskit was founded in 1954 by Ruth Dayan, then wife of military commander Moshe Dayan, as Israel's first fashion house. Dayan's founding idea was practical as much as aesthetic: newly arrived immigrants carried embroidery, weaving and other decorative-arts skills with nowhere to apply them, and Maskit built a business around channeling that craft into modern ready-to-wear. In 1955 designer Finy Leitersdorf joined the house, beginning a fifteen-year design partnership that carried Maskit through its peak years. By the 1960s the label had international standing — Audrey Hepburn was among its clients — and at its height Maskit employed roughly 2,000 workers across ten locations in Israel plus a New York store, with pieces carried by Bergdorf Goodman, Neiman Marcus and Saks Fifth Avenue. The house closed in 1994. It was revived in 2013 by Nir Tal, formerly of Deloitte, and designer Sharon Tal, previously of Alexander McQueen, with backing from Iscar founder Stef Wertheimer. The revived Maskit has continued expanding physical retail beyond its original Old Jaffa atelier, opening a Dizengoff Street flagship in Tel Aviv in 2026 and operating additional branches across the Tel Aviv area. The house's identity — regional embroidery and weaving techniques worked into contemporary tailoring — remains the throughline from Dayan's founding vision to its current collections.