Ziva was born in Palestine and worked for the Israeli underground, transporting food, documents and illegal arms. Her great-grandfather and grandfather were from Poland and had a textile plant that supplied fabric to Savile Row and the Russian Army. I can see her heritage coming through in the “guerilla tactics” she uses to monomaniacally pursue authentic clothing that does not have a stitch of machinery in it. She has the instincts of a bloodhound when it comes to the handmade details of anything from the Sinai or native in origin, whether it be Bedouin, Yemenite, Indian or Mexican. She rarely frequents a conventional shop. Accumulating happens in the most unconventional of ways, and Ziva is her own designer. When she saw a village of people wrapped in a fabric she loved, she stayed an extra night to have it made into a dress. She once bought a bag sewn from discarded leather strips made by a woman on the street. While in Jericho, she convinced the owner of a restaurant to sell her an embroidered jacket off his wall. As deeply as she is into every thread, Ziva is equally dedicated to family law assisting the working poor of Los Angeles, which she has been doing since 1981. Soulful and stylish, Ziva is our own modern day tribal warrior for the cause of being memorable.

If you like Ziva, you might also enjoy Ellen Fisher, Luxor Tavella, or Donna Harrison.