ERDEM Brings Laces Back to London Fashion Week

London Fashion Week is over and now's the time to appreciate some beauty set before our eyes in this big big fashion event. Our cause for celebration is no other than our one and only "Erdem". At first glance, I realized how successful he was in conservating his own line, his particularistic signature and thought no labels were needed for him to be recognized by anyone who is into his work. But a closer examination revealed that he managed to take his work a step further. I have repeatedly heard that his dresses are one of this season's "must-haves".

I have to admit that at first, even though he brings colour, pattern and flowers to the fashion, he is doomed to remain a bit on the side ways, one of the many preferred in London street fashion. I used to think no woman would say no to his dresses; but will not demand them wistfully. This season he proved me wrong. Even though he has dresses that are just sweet, some of his dresses are just stunning.  

In this collection, we see the classical Erdem: mini dresses with lots of laces and patterns. Yet this season he is more hesitant in using too many colors at the same time. He kept things simple so that the design would not be lost behind colours. All dresses are just girly, but some have a certain feminine stance as well, much like the dress in the big picture.

And the final word should be dedicated to Nicholas Kirkwood for the amazing shoes he designed, that match perfectly with the collection.

PS: I had Erdem's previous collection too in this blog for anyone interested in comparing it with this season. It just takes a bit of inquiry of the right hand side menu...

Vogue's Fashion's Night Out - What to expect

Vogue is persistently trying to form a fashion culture in Istanbul, which I appreciate sincerely. The latest step they took is importing the well renowned Fashion's Night Out to Turkey on 16th September. The world knows this event as a supernova of fashion in which world famous DJs play in the A-list designer stores where supermodels and celebrities are expected to bump into each other. Naturally, the event is organized in fashion capitals, in which New York has a special place, since the inventor of FNO is Anna Wintour herself. I have to mention the brilliance of marketing strategy here. By adopting the general rule of 'festivals sell', FNO brings together people who are willing to buy with special discounts or  special suprises in which in the end everyone wins. Brands sell more and reach their target audience, sponsors get a chance to launch their new products to the elite and as a whole FNO turns itself into a brand as well.

On a more local, Turkey specific scale, I have to emphasize one thing. Vogue did not indulge itself with bringing foreign celebrities or fashion editors for the sake of brightening the event. It is good to see for a change that Turkey is forced to create from the bottom its very own fashion culture. If Istanbul will ever become a land of fashion, a bottom to top approach is nothing less than vital.

So far, I have noticed that great effort is put into this. Models are local, designers will be there and most importantly it is advertised well. I like the way that Vogue doesn't play for the popular (despite the irony in its name). The priority always seemed to me like the classy, instead of the the most wanted. Even though these may coincide at times, in times of conflict classy reigns. I hope the event will stay that classy and the party would be a success.

I am not yet sure how the event will turn out, but we have to mark that the international counterparts of the event are some competition. Sarah Jessica Parker, Blake Lively, Leighton Meesters, Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen, Victoria Beckham were among the visitors of NY version. Now let's hope the event will only attract real fashionistas. It is no coincidence that all of the names mentioned are somewhat related to fashion, other than being regular actresses. Therefore it is focal that the people to go FNO represent a certain level of association to fashion along with a style that they are known for. 

Hopefully, the event will be a real phenomena, other than a wannabe of its big sisters.

After IFW, A Critical Approach

Honestly, I am a little disappointed by the IFW this year. I know that the general rhetoric about the fashion week is all too positive, as everyone constantly argues what a huge step it is for the fashion industry in Turkey. However, it should be marked that IFW is not a natural outflow of a improvement within our fashion culture, instead it is more of an artificially imposed week that is tried to be maintained each year, for the belief that someday Istanbul will be the new centre of fashion, much like its counterparts such as Milano, New York or Paris.

Even though Istnabul is drastically distant from these cities' heritage of fashion, it does not necessarily mean that Istanbul will never get there. However, in achieving this overly ambitious goal, there is a lot of responsibilty lying on the shoulders of Turkish designers. This is the time that our designers should realize that they are more than tailors with a glimse of an eye for this stuff, but instead they should force themselves to be real artists. We do not have fashion geniuses yet, no Gallianos, no Lagerfelds obviously; but if we ever want to get there, we should stop being too cautious, even maybe too wearable and start to pursue sophistication from a bolder perspective. If the aim is to make Turkish fashion a brand, then it is not just to only feel honored when Hakaan wins the ANDAM or Hussein Chalayan opens his retrospective exhibition. The issue is making it a whole. And I know, sincerely, that this is not an easy goal.

Turkish fashion can never be truly repudiated unless it starts to put on real shows, not some simplistic runways. Fashion show is not simply tailoring some clothes and showing them to potential customers, it is about following an ideal. An ideal that should be worked upon so meticulously that when a show is on, its music, atmosphere, its models, the mood of its models should all be coherent to follow a certain theme. I am not talking about naming the shows. It is so easy to do it. Instead, designers should run after more, should push themselves more and more importantly divorce themselves from all sorts of sales anxities. Sales is the business of others, the professionals that they hire for this specific job. Designers should only exist with their artistic stance. Nothing more, nothing less.

This is the reason that I am disappointed with this years Istanbul Fashion Week. Because I feel like there is no huge step taken forward. It is a dublication or a modified version of designers' previous collection. Bringing famous models or foreign Vogue editors is not the answer. The real focus should be on the fashion week itself instead of some model. After the event established itself fully and successfully, blogger and editors will pour in the doors by themselves. The issue is making a brand out of Istanbul and this year did not add much to last year. Unfortunately that made me suspicious of next year's glory.

I hope next year's IFW will prove me wrong...

What this year's IFW is going to look like.

I am terribly sorry for such a huge gap in between my entries. Nonetheless, here I am, back and ready once and for all. Now that the biggest event of Turkish fashion is approaching (precisely 3 days left), it is now the most appropriate time to take an all encompassing journey about what "Istanbul Fashion Week" is and what awaits us for this year. Now that all the designers are extremely enthusiastic about their shows, let's trace some of the clues they left so to guess even for a bit what this year's event's going to look like.

Here's the program of this year:

Atıl Kutoglu hasn't been presenting any new collections for quite some time now, so his runway will be a matter of curiousity for many. For the closure of day 1, Bora Aksu will be showing what he's got. He is already a well established designer in London, as he repeatedly participated in London Fashion Week, yet he says he is inpired by Istanbul for this very collection. It will be our pleasure to have our world renowned designer in his homeland.

This year's Karma show is also a very strong one. Gül Ağış is slowly making her way up, while Zeynep Tosun and Zeynep Erdoğan have started to win themselves a place in Turkish fashion. I am mostly curious about whether they have managed to take a step further since the last IFW and develop a style that is a bit more elegant and mature to enable them to play in the major's league. Simay Bülbül will be there, I suppose again with a spiritual headline and a collection created around it. Arzu Kaprol will be concluding the night, hopefully with her characteristic elegance and a glimse of a new theme, much like her previous themes of ecology or futurism.

On the following day, an often visitor of our blog, Rana Berna Canok sisters will be in the Karma show once more, allegedly with their sculpture like figures. Following that, Özgür Masur, who participated in a karma show last year, will be performing on his own this time. A big thrill not only for him, but for all of his followers and anyone interested in Turkish fashion really. We'll see if he could put upon what he has been building up for a year. Bahar Korçan will be showing off with her collection she named "Listen". As though it has been ages now that she is in fashion industry, she is still a bit of an experimental kind. So it's going to be interesting.

On the final day, Gamze Saraçoğlu will be pumping adrenalin in backstage, followed by Özlem Süer, now a popular face for the fashionista.

So, let's see what this IFW brings about...

Urban Mobility by Hussein Chalayan!

İşte Urban Mobility by Hussein Chalayan'ın bayanlar için tasarımları...
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And here are the designs of Urban Mobility by Hussein Chalayan for woman...