A Historic First at Tel Aviv Fashion Week: Transgender Designer Lee Almond to Debut with “I Was Born Twice”

History will be made this October as Lee Almond, a transgender Israeli fashion designer, takes the runway at Israel-Canada Tel Aviv Fashion Week 2025 for the first time. Her debut collection, titled “I Was Born Twice”, will be presented as a deeply personal manifesto of rebirth, resilience, and truth.

The event, which runs from October 26 to 30, 2025, marks a turning point not only in Almond’s own journey but also in the evolving landscape of Israeli fashion. Her participation signals a bold embrace of inclusivity and self-expression within an industry that has long sought to define beauty, and is now learning to reflect it in all its forms.

For Moti Reif, the visionary producer behind Tel Aviv Fashion Week, this moment is far more than symbolic.
“For me, Tel Aviv Fashion Week has always been a stage for values,” says Reif. “Choosing to spotlight a transgender designer is not a token gesture; it’s a statement. Our runway belongs to everyone. Lee brings a story of courage, precision, and honesty. Her collection, I Was Born Twice, reminds us that fashion is a language through which we can be reborn. I’m proud of this moment, and proud that this talent from Be’er Sheva now stands at the heart of Israel’s fashion scene.”

Almond’s collection reflects a return to herself, in every sense.
“Fashion is my language of truth,” says Almond. “After years of designing for other women, I’m finally telling my own story, without masks. I Was Born Twice is a reminder that we always have the power to choose ourselves again with courage, with softness, with love.”

Born and raised in Be’er Sheva, Almond began her creative path through classical ballet, becoming a soloist by the age of five. The grace and discipline of dance remain etched in her design language, body awareness, and emotional sensibility. While still in high school, she discovered fashion as a medium for visual storytelling and self-expression. At just 18, she launched her first bridal brand in Be’er Sheva, laying the foundation for her professional path.

In 2018, she showcased a collection at New York Fashion Week. Shortly afterward, she chose to step away from the spotlight and begin a deeply personal process, transitioning gender with the support of her parents, and dedicating the next decade to real women of all sizes and shapes, creating one-of-a-kind couture bridal gowns. Now, for the first time since completing her transition, she returns to the runway, under her real name.

Her FW25 collection, I Was Born Twice, serves as both artistic and emotional manifesto: a universe of black garments that are minimalist yet intense, sharp yet vulnerable. Clean silhouettes, textured contrasts, and subtle details tell a story of identity, strength, and reconciliation. The collection seeks to celebrate the feminine body in all its diverse forms, offering pieces that feel like a new beginning for the women who wear them.

Almond’s studio and atelier are located on the 12th floor of M-Tower, a business high-rise in Be’er Sheva. Designed as an open and transparent space, it reflects her ethos of honest, local, and direct creation. This transparency, literal and metaphorical, is what makes her voice so vital on today’s fashion stage.