Vautrait – The Modern Traditionalist

We met Yonathan Carmel, designer and founder of Vautrait, only a day after he revealed his fourth collection during Paris Fashion Week. Vautrait was established in 2021 in Tel Aviv. Since then, the label has championed traditional crafts as the key to its sustainable creations. We experience a bright, promising and highly reflective individual who was recently nominated for literal approach to sustainability and the importance of preserving craftsmanship.

Benjamin Schiffer: Where does the name Vautrait come from?
Yonathan Carmel: It goes way back to the French Tunisian half of my family. I realised that Vautrait was the family name a few generations ago and I liked it. I eventually wanted to give it a second chance and reconnect to the past.

BS: Congratulations on your latest show! There is a lot of drapery going on. Is that a sig-nature of the Vautrait brand?
YC: You’re right! This season, I was playing a lot with dra-pery by making use of light and soft materials like silk – it creates this almost ghost-like appeal. It was interesting to see the relationship of some-thing constructed and solid colliding with something rather delicate and almost vanishing. My main speciality is tailoring and in my work, I like to bring the material to the front and not too much the design, it’s a celebration of the material. BS: Why do you find this approach of focusing on the material so enticing?

BS: Why do you find this approach of focusing on the material so enticing?
YC: I would say that it supports the quality of the tex-tiles and it also highlights the craftsmanship behind the material. I see it as a duty to mediate between the people who are the masters of their craft and the people who buy the clothing. I want to create this circle of keeping the tradition alive; especially in times when it feels like things are becoming more and more artificial and overly trendy. Right now, there is not a lot of respect for tradition.

BS: What is a characteristic of Vautrait?
YC: I believe that my tailoring pieces will be the most recognisable. The signature pieces will be the ones where you can see the tradition and the craftsmanship of the tailoring. To me, it’s important to al-ways tie my work back to these ancient practices, but make it look new.

Vautrait jacket, shirt & trousers

BS: I share your perception of brands using these words in such an inflationary way. Eventually, their extensive use dilutes their meaning. I’m happy to see someone making a mission out of this phenomenon by shift-ing these words to their original meaning. You mentioned your nomination for the LVMH prize – I’m curious to know more about the process and your feelings.
YC: In the beginning, I did not understand what was going to happen. I ended up meeting over 100 people in the last two days, people that I look up to. I met people like Tim Blanks and Anna Wintour whom I have only ever seen in the media. I am very grateful to have this platform. I was standing next to my collection from 7.30am until 9pm, but I didn’t feel tired, but rather energised. It didn’t feel like work and the other designers contributed to the good vibe.

BS: What role does sustainability play in your business?
YC: I believe in creating garments that aren’t considered trendy and that don’t solely serve a temporary moment. My garments should sustain. SusTaining time is therefore a sustainable approach. It might sound very literal, but this sums up my approach very well.

BS: That’s an interesting interpretation of sustainability. In recent years, there seemed to be much more attention on mate-rial innovations, re-and up-cycling as well as circularity rather than timeless design. In what way do you work sustainably from a material standpoint?
YC: The materials do play a big part in my work. I source my materials from families who have been producing wool and leather in traditional ways over many generations. I highly cherish their expertise and craftsman-ship. It’s important to me to keep those traditions alive and preserve them.

BS: Surely most of these ancestral methods have a small-er ecological footprint than most modern mass productions. There is also this social dimension to sustainability that you are touching on – a respectful handling of people and their crafts. Last question: how do brands stay relevant these days?
YC: Good question! I strongly believe that it’s advantageous for brands to create garments that are not conditioned by the now, but rather by the past.