Nikolai Kadosh • Proud designer in Haifa

Writing-Rachli Ben Galim

Nikolai Kadosh, one of the leading fashion designers in Haifa and the North, over 40 years in the field of bridal and evening dresses, established a prosperous business in Haifa, with ten fingers

The month of pride has passed, this time without magnificent and colorful parades, due to the restrictions of the corona virus. The elaborate pride celebrations that took place in recent years in the big cities, including Haifa, were replaced this year by online and symbolic events, flags and decorations in the colors of pride were hung in the squares and streets, in order, at least, to remember and remind, even if in an inadequate way, that there is something to celebrate and there is also, definitely, still what to fight for

When in recent weeks discussions are still taking place in Israel - conversion therapy, yes or no, (reminder: we are in 2020!!) and in the vote in the Israeli Knesset regarding the prohibition of the aforementioned law, it passes but with difficulty, when there is still no full equality of rights for LGBT people and there are LGBT people walking around among us And for LGBT women who are afraid to come out of the closet, there is definitely a place for a reminder.

אנחנו live here We are happy to introduce you (for those who haven't won yet, are there any?) Haifa pride in every sense of the word - the successful fashion designer Saint Nicholas.

A saint tells Lehi here:

My mother Esther Kadosh, who lived a long life, had a leather factory in Migdal Ha'Emek, which employed hundreds of workers. As a great educator and sewing teacher, she said to me: "Do you want pocket money? Come help me at the factory."

In my mother's factory "Esti Leder Migdal - Ha'emek" I was exposed to all the departments of the tailor in all stages of production: employees, collection of funds, management, buying raw materials, suppliers, leathers, dyes, cuts, sewing machines, threads, dolls and above all I was exposed to women, of all sizes, The sizes and colors, which came to measure clothes, which were sewn for them with personal tailoring. 

Dress up Rita

Susan Amor, the wife of the mayor of Migdal Ha'Emek, the late Shaul Amor, was one of my regular customers in Migdal Ha'Emek. She had unusual sizes and I was her close designer. We had a special connection and she was my first "walking advertisement". I made clothes for her To all the parties and events she was invited to, in Israel and around the world. Thanks to her, I got to know and sewed dresses for Reuma Weizman, Leah Rabin, the Shefatim band, the Hot Lady band, the Orot reputation band and the singer Rita and other leading women in the country.  

10 year old designer

My story begins at the age of 10. I would go down to the basement, and in the dead of night and secretly sew dresses from curtains and sheets, because that's what was available.

One day my father caught me in the basement with five dresses, which I worked hard on, took scissors and cut the dresses and said to me: "This is not a profession for boys, you need a profession for men, go be a pilot, a lawyer, a carpenter, a shoemaker, just don't sew dresses . Your mother sews for women and that's enough for us.

From that day, my world changed and I began to sew in secret, and this is what increased my passion and creative joy to create dresses.

Sewed in the neighbor's house

I bought a "Singer" sewing machine and so, whoever wanted a dress in Migdal Ha'Emek, would order me with the machine. Everyone knew I had nowhere to sew and I couldn't sew at home. Until the army, I only sewed by word of mouth in the houses of the neighbors and made a decent living.

Father's consent

At the age of 18 I enlisted in the army. For a year and a half I served as a fighter in the Golani Brigade, and until the liberation I moved to Jalami camp in the position of "counter-liaison".
During the army, my father agreed that I would sew clothes for a living and I returned to work in the basement without interruption.

Freedom and inspiration

When I was released from the army I moved to the big city, Tel Aviv. I felt suffocated in Migdal Ha'Emek, a suffocation that stemmed both from the fact that I lived with my parents, and from the need and desire in me as a person and as a designer, for professional freedom of expression. I felt I had to be inspired by the big city. 

Help from Ethi Ohana

Eti Ohana, sister of the soccer player Eli Ohana who played for Beitar Jerusalem, (her mother lives in Migdal Ha'Emek to this day), met me one day on the street and said to me: "What are you doing in Migdal Ha'Emek? Look at me, I have a successful boutique in the heart of Dizengoff and I'm doing great. Come live with me and I'll get you a job with a company."

Ohana arranged a job for me at Ilana Neuberg's store on Madinah Square, where I worked for five years and received the Gushpanka to be a designer of wedding and evening dresses for glittering events, something that accompanies me to this day.

A world of crystals and gems

At Ilana's I discovered a world of crystals, pageants, sequins, beads, gems, gold threads... things that I didn't have as a child in Migdal Ha'Emek, and today they are an inseparable part of me.

Share in the joys

At the age of twenty-five I returned to Migdal Ha'Emek, rented an apartment from Amidar, which I later purchased and today is used as a refuge apartment for the underprivileged and for those who have come out of the closet and are going through a phase of acclimatization with themselves and society.
In my first apartment in the Rasko neighborhood of Migdal Ha'Emek, I realized that my calling was to dress brides, mothers and hostesses for the biggest day of their lives. I felt that the Creator of the world touched me and wanted me to be a full partner in the joys of the people, something that influenced me and made me a well-known and well-known designer throughout the region.

To be a fashion designer in Haifa

At the age of thirty, I moved to Haifa and opened a studio for wedding and evening dresses at 121 Sderot Moriah on the Carmel. I live the studio 24/7. I enjoy getting to it, opening the door and seeing my kingdom. There is always a good smell in the studio, the place is tidy, intimate, gives confidence to the client to get dressed, change clothes, it is organized and fun to be in.

All my models are real Haifa women who were also my clients: Etti Rosenthal, Sharon Pima, Ofra Planter, Hila Zimsen, Iman Bastouni, Yifat Jebeli and Racheli Ben Galim, who for the last twenty years buys every dress for an event from me. Her daughter's wedding had 15 dresses that I designed. 

The beautiful women of Haifa

Haifa women are beautiful, restrained, conservative women, who love clean models and above all modest. The Haifa women were ahead of fashion, because today fashion is more modest and conservative.
Most of my best friends today are from Haifa and Kiryat.

the fingerprint

In the last twenty-five years "Nicolai Kadosh Studio" in Haifa has gained momentum and there is no one who does not know my signature on a garment. Women who dress at my place tell me that they go to events and recognize their clothes and are asked "Is this a St. Nicholas garment?"

supports others

At the same time, men always came to me who needed support in their process of coming out of the closet, in front of their parents who did not accept them, in front of the society that bullied and oppressed them, and also in front of themselves.

I am happy that I have the ability and possibility to employ them in my sewing room, give them a place to rest their heads at my house, provide them with all their needs in times of crisis and also be a listening ear.

Two years ago, the mayor of Kiryat Bialik, Eli Dukorski, and the Community Centers Authority in Israel, decided to support the "LGBT - Kiryot" community and gave us a budget and a hall in the community center to enable us to carry out ongoing activities, in which I took part, organizing Shabbat reception, lectures, parties and events, When everything is voluntary for the community of gays and gays in the north, including, of course, Haifa.

The attitude of the environment to the gay community

Over the years, there has been a change for the better in the attitude of the environment to the Gay and Gaot community, and I feel that there is more openness and more acceptance in society, which I welcome. Although, I must point out that I have never felt alienated for being proud.

Haifa is my city

Haifa is my city. This is the city where I want to raise my children. A child is a project that I am working on and thinking about a lot these days, with the support of my Rabbi Gabriel Azran.

I love the city of Haifa, due to its conservative character, and at the same time, due to its being a mixed city, of coexistence, where the new and the old exist side by side. I love its buildings, and these days I'm looking to move my residence in Carmel to the heart of an Arab neighborhood in the lower city, where I get a lot of inspiration.