Bauhaus Week in Haifa and the Connection Between Ata and Meskit

Ahead of the Haifa Bauhaus Week, which will take place between November 8-15, 2026One can look at Hadar's buildings and ask: How did ideas that came from Europe take on a local form here? The answer lies not only in the windows and balconies, but also in the fabrics, cuts, and stories of the fashion created in Israel.

What was the Bauhaus, and how did its ideas reach Israel?

The Bauhaus school was founded in 1919 in Weimar, Germany, by architect Walter Gropius. It connected art, craft, design, and architecture, and sought to combine form with use. The school moved to Dessau in 1925 and Berlin in 1932, and was closed in 1933 under Nazi rule. Teachers and students who emigrated carried its ideas to different parts of the world.

Not all architects who worked in Israel studied at the Bauhaus. Many were influenced by modernism and the International Style, and adopted ideas such as clean lines, simple shapes, and functional planning. In Haifa, they adapted them to the city’s conditions and building materials. Therefore, the name “Bauhaus” is sometimes used in Israel to broadly describe buildings in the International Style.

How did Bauhaus ideas reach fashion?

The connection between geometry, form, and utility is not limited to architecture. Designer Mary Katrantzou presented her Fall-Winter 2018 collection at London Fashion Week. In the collection, she combined inspiration from the Bauhaus alongside other influences from the history of design. In this way, ideas from an artistic movement were expressed on the runway, through prints, colors, and cuts.

The story behind the garment

To understand the fashion created here, it is also worth looking at the material from which the garment is made. Fabric is not just a color or a pattern: behind it there is work, hands, techniques and knowledge that is passed down from person to person. Sometimes it carries with it the traditions and stories of a community. Ata and Meshkit suggested two different ways to transform the material into a garment with a local character.

The story of Ata Company - from fabric to workwear

Ata was founded in the village of Ata in 1934 by the Muller family, a Jewish industrialist family originating from Slovakia, then part of Czechoslovakia. The factory sought to produce textiles and clothing in Israel, and focused on work and everyday clothing: useful and durable items designed to accompany the body during a working day.

Out of practical necessity, a recognizable look was also created: simple, connected to the material, production, and labor. Ata's clothes became part of a broader story about local industry and a working society.

How did Maskit connect craft and design?

Maskit was established in 1954 at the initiative of Ruth Dayan, as a government company designed to promote handicrafts and employment among new immigrants. It incorporated the knowledge and traditions of artisans from various communities into its designs, including embroidery and weaving.

Pini Leitersdorf, Maskit's chief designer for years, transformed these techniques and materials into garments with a distinct design language. Maskit's designs were also featured in the Bonds fashion shows of the 1960s and 1970s. Thus, handcraft, design, and stories from different communities came together on the runway.

What connects the buildings to the clothes?

Ata and Maskhit offered two different answers: Ata through production, utility, and durability; Maskhit through craft, tradition, and story. In architecture, too, ideas that came from outside took on a form that suited the place.

In both areas, design is created from the encounter between ideas, materials and people. Haifa buildings tell the story through lines and shapes; Ata and Meshit add to it the perspective of textiles, handicrafts and fashion.