Tel Aviv hosted its first Fashion Week for three decades at the end of last month, attracting huge, celebrity-studded audiences to 20 fashion shows over three days.

The highlight was the Roberto Cavalli catwalk show where the Italian master of glitz and glam wowed a Tel Aviv fashion crowd with his Spring/Summer 2012 collection. But the event also achieved its main objective: to showcase local designers and put Israel firmly back on the world’s fashion map. Sheer fabrics, glitz and bondage dominated the runways, but Israel’s ability to produce world-class designers was also clear.