As a Turkish artist who was born in the United States, I had the privilege of living in two very different countries and I've been exposed to different cultures. Turkey is a very classicist country, so unfortunately, I wasn't immersed in the Turkish culture while I was living there. We weren't taught to embrace or celebrate it. Instead, the culture was something correlated with the lower class, and celebrating the Turkish culture was seen as something demeaning. I realized this when I moved to the US back in 2012. This was the time when I started visiting Turkey as a "tourist" and did touristy things like eating local foods, visiting the Grand Bazaar and the mosques and eating breakfast in the Bosphorus etc. (the stuff I wouldn't necessarily do as a local). So, my current work is me reclaiming my Turkish culture and celebrating it by combining it with my culture here in the States. This is me realizing that my culture is something that can enrich me rather than impoverish me. The collection has traditional aspects to it, as I had local fabrics and goods shipped to me directly from Istanbul, Turkey. I received traditional headscarves that has been in my family for decades, later I repurposed them and turned them into custom fabrics. I also had custom shoes made; a combination of contemporary sneakers with traditional Turkish hammam sandals attached to the bottom. But the collection is also contemporary and far from costume-looking, something that is a risk that comes with taking inspiration from tradition and culture. I'm hoping that through what I'm doing, the middle and high class will finally see the beauty in Turkish culture and reclaim it and celebrate it themselves and people who haven't been exposed to the culture can feel interested in the collection and appreciate it as well.
ALL OF THE PIECES WERE DESIGNED AND SEWN BY ME. WE HELD MODEL FITTINGS EVERY WEEK AND DID ADJUSTMENTS TO THE GARMENTS ACCORDINGLY. THIS COLLECTION WAS SHOWN IN A RUNWAY SHOW AT SPRING STUDIOS IN NYC.
