ABOUT
Dr. Ya’ara Keydar,
fashion historian and curator
.webp)
.webp)
Yaara Keydar (PhD) is a fashion historian and curator, lecturer, and founder of Fashion Museum Tel Aviv by Azrieli Group, which is set to open in 2027. Her first nonfiction book, Madame X’s Scandal Dress: and Other Stories of Fashion and Art, was published by Modan in August 2026. Keydar completed her doctoral dissertation, Survival Modes: Affective Objects of Women’s Fashion in World War II, within the Program in Cultural Studies at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. She holds an M.A. in Costume Studies from New York University, where she graduated with distinction, and completed a two-year curatorial internship at the Costume Institute of the Metropolitan Museum of Art and at the Museum at FIT in New York. She holds a B.A. with honors in Fashion Design from Shenkar College.
Since 2018, Keydar has been lecturing on fashion, culture, and art at leading cultural and arts institutions in Israel and internationally. Over the past decade, she has initiated and curated twelve exhibitions in Israel and abroad. Four of her fashion exhibitions have been presented at Design Museum Holon, each offering a distinctive spatial interpretation of the museum as a whole. Together, they have attracted more than half a million visitors: “Heroines: Fashion and Hope in World War II” (2025), which was extended three times due to public demand; “Alber Elbaz: The Dream Factory” (2022); “The Ball: Fashion and Escapism” (2021), which broke the museum’s attendance records; and “Je t’aime, Ronit Elkabetz” (2017). In 2020, she curated “New York Fashion Rediscovered” at the ZAZ10TS Gallery in New York.
My Collection
For years, I have been collecting historical fashion objects that teach about the stories, people, and traditions behind each piece and garment.
Votes for Women" Lapel Pin, 1915
This lapel pin (Yaara Keydar Collection) was an integral part of the American women's suffrage movement, symbolizing the struggle for equal voting rights in the United States. The pin gained significant prominence during the historic New York City parade on October 23, 1915, which saw approximately 25,000 women participate in the largest demonstration the city had ever witnessed.
New York State granted women the right to vote in 1917, positioning itself among the pioneering states to legislate full equality. This progressive stance ultimately contributed to ratifying the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution in 1920, which federally established women's equal voting rights.
Pins have a rich and extensive history as functional and symbolic jewelry pieces. Dating back to the Bronze Age, they originally served as garment fasteners, but their intricate designs often conveyed cultural, religious, and social identities. In ancient Rome, pins denoted rank and status, while in medieval times, they played a crucial role in expressing personal identity and social affiliation.
Pins acquired greater political significance during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, particularly within the women's suffrage movement. Suffragettes utilized pins to symbolize their struggle for women's rights, with many designed in the movement's characteristic colors—green, white, and purple. These items transcended mere decorative purposes, serving as powerful symbols of protest and political solidarity, exemplified by widely used items such as this "Votes for Women" pin.
More from the collection
