ASHDOD — Dorin Frankfurt spent nearly five decades making clothes in Tel Aviv, building one of Israel’s best-known fashion labels around local production, plenty of black apparel, and practical pieces for Israeli women.

Now, Frankfurt, 74, is the subject of “Fashion Worker: Dorin Frankfurt” at the Ashdod Museum of Art, an exhibit that looks at the ideas and stories behind her work.

“Fashion Worker: Dorin Frankfurt” opened in December 2025 and will now run through August 15, after the 40-day war with Iran closed most public institutions and delayed the museum’s schedule.

The Ashdod museum was an unusual choice for Frankfurt, given that several of Israel’s fashion-focused exhibits have been at Holon’s Design Museum, which hosted the 2022 Alber Elbaz exhibit and “Heroines” in 2025, about the fashion industry during World War II.

Frankfurt chose the Ashdod Museum because she wanted to exhibit at an art museum, not a design museum, and to focus on the ideas and concepts revolving around her work, and not merely the clothing itself, she told The Times of Israel.

The exhibit looks at Frankfurt not only as the familiar designer of an Israeli brand, but also as a manufacturer, employer and cultural figure whose work was always tied to local industry, politics, gender, sustainability and the changing Israeli textile world.

“What’s always important to me is the story behind the designs, and not just looking at beautiful clothing,” said Frankfurt, during a recent visit to her exhibit.

Frankfurt and curator Lisa Peretz spent five years working on the exhibit.

When still considering where to house the show, one of their ideas was to show it at Ashdod’s art museum, which was closed for renovations for two years. It reopened in December with Frankfurt’s exhibit.

“I love this museum and its........

© The Times of Israel