The lawyer who one day decided to open her own brand

• Published date: 05 April 2024
• Author: SHOVAL AZUR
• Publication title: Jerusalem Post, The: Web Edition Articles (Israel)

Five years ago, Meital Carmeli (47) decided to make a sort of turn in her life, and although she loved her profession as a lawyer, she decided to connect with what has always excited her - fashion. In 2020, she opened her own fashion brand, a brand that focuses on 'boutique fashion' with the aim of creating elegant and luxurious items suitable for both everyday and evening lifestyles. We spoke with her for a short interview

How do you suddenly reach such a field in the middle of life? Is this something you always wanted to do?

'It's hard for me to think in terms of mid-life.. I reached the limit in a fascinating field, which I was involved in until a few years ago, and besides that I always had an inner urge to engage in fashion, I needed the right timing in life to make the change. As far as I'm concerned, I still have a whole life to deal with it... and of course I welcome it.''

What did it require of you to make this change in occupation? From a lawyer to a fashion designer, nevertheless there are very large gaps between the two professions

"Yes, there are fundamental differences between these two fields, the key is related to one, my personality, in both I express my entrepreneurial and creative side and as much as I can testify about myself, I have passion and dedication to what I do. On the other hand, there is no doubt that entering a new field requires in-depth study, and in this part I did not make any assumptions, I studied in depth the technical field, the creative process from the beginning, I established a quality control system for the fabrics I choose to work with and for the various stages of execution, and of course in the business aspect, I studied well The market I'm targeting.'

What was your first step?

"I started to design and produce my first item; These were half gloves, why half gloves? I don't know, maybe because I saw them once in an old movie, I liked them but I didn't see them in stores. I remember checking with people in the field, who is the best fabric store in Tel Aviv and I went to it, the owner of the fabric store was kind enough to match me with a home seamstress, who didn't speak a word of Hebrew and/or English, we would communicate through translation apps. Sitting face to face, in a one bedroom apartment, I sketch and she takes out a model, sews while I sit quietly next to her. Makes changes and she corrects, like this back and forth.

I started selling to girls who saw the items on me and wanted them too, little by...