Earlier this year, the University of Haifa completed a historic merger with the renowned Neri Bloomfield School of Design (WIZO Haifa), creating the first university-based design school in Israel. The new School of Design now brings together departments in fashion, visual communication, architecture, photography, and environmental design – fusing academic depth with artistic innovation and expanding hands-on learning opportunities across disciplines.

Before the ink could begin to dry, in May 2025 a group of fashion design students took first place at the prestigious Ambassadors of Coexistence competition in Abu Dhabi. The centerpiece of their submission was a quietly powerful short film titled “Religious Tolerance Through Fashion”, telling the story of Yasmina, a Syrian Druze student from the Golan Heights, who weaves her identity into a self-designed garment that becomes a message of compassion, inclusion, and tolerance. The project was part of a course led by lecturer Ihab Jiryis, who encourages students to explore fashion as a means of self-expression and a medium for cross-cultural understanding.

“Fashion speaks where words fail,” said Yasmina. “We didn’t set out to win – we set out to design a conversation.”

Their entry was selected over finalists from India, Nigeria, and Azerbaijan, taking home a monetary prize and the title of “International Ambassador” from the Manara Center for Coexistence and Dialogue.

“There’s a creative spark that happens when design meets other disciplines,” says Professor Leah Peretz, Head of the new School of Design and a celebrated figure in Israeli fashion. “Our curriculum includes a variety of courses such as philosophy, anthropology, gender studies and marine sciences, alongside studio collaborations with departments like Computer Science, Literature, and Archaeology. These connections open up entirely new ways of thinking and creating, contributing to wider cultural and intellectual exchange, and offering our design students a unique academic experience rooted in a broad, interdisciplinary vision.”

That vision is already unfolding. Just weeks before the Abu Dhabi achievement, students returned from a transformative study tour in India, where they blended sustainability and ancient craft traditions with cutting-edge textile technology – an experience that strongly reflects the University’s commitment to immersive learning and wide-ranging academic exploration. Back home in Haifa, the School opened “Album Darom,” a powerful and contemplative photography exhibit curated by Prof. Dana Arieli exploring history, life and remembrance in Israel’s southern region in the aftermath of the October 7, 2023 attacks.

At a moment when new narratives are needed to overcome rising divisions, the School of Design is shaping them. One bold project and one vision at a time.