Tarkan'ın Kırışık Deri Ceketi

Tarkan'ın Acımayacak klibindeki bu ceketi beğendim. Klipteki kıyafetler Ceyda Balaban, Umut Eker ve Simay Bülbül tarafından hazırlanmış.  

Johns Geri Dönüyor...

Ve uzun bir aradan sonra yeniden geniş bir kitleye yayılacak gibi görünüyor 

Türkiye’de “içlik” olarak bilinen ve geniş bir grup insan tarafından arabası olmadığı için kışın dışarıda yürüyerek dolaşmak zorunda olan fakir insanlara özgü olduğu sanılan ‘iç ısı giysileri’ yakın gelecekte daha geniş bir çevre tarafından kucaklanacak gibi görünüyor.

Batı şehirlerinde de uzun bir süredir bu iç çamaşırın ismi (johns, evet ingilizcede böyle deniyor ve neden böyle denildiği bilinmiyor) hemen hiç duyulmuyordu ya da sadece doğa sporları ile uğraşanlar tarafından sahipleniliyordu. Ancak erkek iç çamaşırı piyasasının renklenmesi ürün çeşitliliğine yaradı ve son birkaç yıldır bu iç çamaşırı türü yeniden popülerlik kazanıyor.

Geçtiğimiz sene Selfridges üst segmente yönelik bir seri çıkarmıştı. Woolpower veya  Schiesser gibi birçok Avrupa markası da ismini bu tarz ürünlerle duyuruyor.

Bana eski zamana özgü bir samimiyet duygusu veriyor. Annemizin hala “İçine atlet giy” dediği bir çağa ait bir ürün bizi yeniden ziyaret ediyormuş gibi. Dolayısıyla ister kısa paçalı olsun ister uzun Johns’lar içimizi ısıtacaklar.

Internet is a Desert by Can Evgin

Can Evgin, sadece iPad için çıkarılan ilk dergi olan Post için iki video hazırlamış. Videolar, Purple Dergisi'nin kurucusu Oliver Zahm ve Yunan sanatçı Miltos Manetas ile İstanbul ziyaretleri sırasında internetin sınısız imkanları üzerine yapılan röportajlardan oluşan derleme niteliğinde.


Bir sürü görüntü akıyor, bir sürü muhabbet dönüyor ama bunlara rağmen yaratılan boşluk duygusu muazzam.

"Internet is a Desert" directed by Can Evgin



"The Last Promise" directed by Can Evgin

Lessons from fashion's free culture

Is fashion industry better without copyright protection? 

Johanna Blakley will convince you that it is

"Copyright law's grip on film, music and software barely touches the fashion industry ... and fashion benefits in both innovation and sales, says Johanna Blakley. At TEDxUSC 2010, she talks about what all creative industries can learn from fashion's free culture."

Ümit Benan's Inspiration Photos Project

With his latest Inspiration Photos Project, Ümit Benan puts a strong emphisize on his
neo-macho man style

Ümit Benan had started his career in Milan displaying a long bearded, old man as a brand image, advocating that people shouldn't be judged by their appearances, an attitude which helps him to distinguish himself from the rest in an industry mostly relevant with the images over-stylized.

Now, after several years, he still keeps his trajectory straight, staying loyal to the core of his brand attitude, with kind of images from the low and diregarded side of the society.

His clothes are defined rough by appearance, (which is arguable in case of some collections such as the latest 2011 SS) and soft by other senses.

For the recent inspiration photos project, Ümit Benan collabrated with Serdar Bilgili, a high-profile businessman known with his b&w sensational portraits, displaying disabled people in emotional conditions.

And in this inspiration project, he shot men who are so apparent that they belong to the 'have-nots' side of the society, and has nothing to do with fashion streams.

Ümit Benan's this non-traditional fashion attitude has been praised by the main stream fashion journalists as much as the bloggers all around the world who are fascinated with the odd and undiscovered things.

Yet, I wonder, does his recent description about the-new-age-macho style reveal anything about what is coming-up next in men's fashion?

It's doubtful that whether Benan's oriental influenced designs go main-stream or not, but it's so clear that his aspiration has already begun to inspire those that lead the society forward.

Coppola İftiharla Sunar: Alden Ehrenreich.

Alden Ehrenreich, ilk önemli filmi olan Tetro'da ne denli gelecek vaad ettiğini kanıtlıyor

Francis Ford Coppola'nın Tetro filmini izlediniz mi? Atmosferi fena değil ama bayılınacak bir film de değil. Bana filmi en fazla merak ettiren, -ve de izlettiren- Coppola'nın son keşfi Alden Ehrenreich oldu. 
Çocuk, daha trailer'ında görür görmez dikkatimi çekti. Hani bazı insanlar elektrik saçarlar ve daha baştan size vaadde bulunurlar ya, aynen öyle. 

Ve filmde de hayal kırıklığına uğratmadı. Henüz 21 yaşında olan Ehrenreich, bence yeni kuşak sinema oyuncuları içerisinde en dikkate değerlerden biri. 

Interview:Nihan Peker

Clothes as a way of self-expression: 

Well-defined, well-cut and monochrome...

After some education and internship in Italy you are back to İstanbul, and decided to fly with your own wings; what's new?
The recent collection Uyandırma Ayini (wake-up ritual) is my second ready-to-wear collection among total five. Previous collections which were mostly enperimental and not intended for the mass market had tendency towards to haute couture but now i'm more reachable. This is what i want right now: To be consumed casually. 

Your collections have always been abstractly well defined with cultural references, how do you decide a concept?
That's right, every collection has a unique theme. And these themes spring naturally in the design process. I always start with researching the right clothes for the garments. Time i spend for the research is pretty short but i construct all the concept at this very limited time.
When i was preparing for Hamal collection, i spent so much time in Eminönü. I saw a lot of hamal (street porter) there. How they carry their 'küfe' (a very large basket carried on the back by street porters) and how the küfe itself is woven inspired me. I'm basically interested in traditional Turkish culture. For instance, i have a big respect for all the aspects of sufi culture and i reflected this fascination at 'Semazenler' with writing and other details placed on pieces of clothing. 

Is there any chracteristics you especially give a place in your desings?
In general, i am not in love with colours. All the clothes tend to be monochrome. I always design things i certainly would like to wear on and that's because my designs mostly are well-cut, plain and black and white. The collections are basically consisted of two main parts: well-cut, masculine white shirts (yes, i love white shirts very very much) and disproportionately cut or woven pieces. 

Each garment is unique. Even the sizes make a difference. Sometimes people who try a different size of the same piece say that that is not looking the way other one is. They are right, all of the pieces look different on a different body. And because of this disproportion the wearer may adjust its look according to her taste with simple accessories.

So which words do you think describe your style best?
Plain and monochrome; experimental but deliberate...


What's your favourite texture?
Organza. Some of the dresses are made of organza in this spring collection. They're wearable in a daily routine. Actually i'm more interested in threads rather than fabrics. After all fabrics are woven with threads. And to emphasize this admiration of mine i use strings in a very direct way on clothes. Sometimes i tear a cloth into pieces just to make new strings... 


Who is your favourite designer?
Yasemin Özeri, Öykü Thurston, Elif Cığızoğlu, Özgür Masur, Ümit Ünal and Jil Sander...


What's the most important challenge a young designer who tries to stand on her/his own legs is supposed to deal with?
A place for a permenant retail. Now, for the last two collections i sell my designs at Laundromat. But Laundromat has a changing concept over the time and that's because it's not clear that how long more i may keep selling there. The revenue i get from the sales is significantly absorbed by the expenditures of production. That's a circle hard to break.

Because of this reason most designers get into business by working under the name of a big brand. Why didnt you choose that path?
Because i want to express myself. Even though i could get a chance to work for a creatively driven brand, my role as a beginner would be so limited. Besides i feel a very strong energy inside me to go on my own way... 

What's the most important difficulty you face during the production process?
I've no contract with a single atelier. I work with several independent tailors and patternmakers. That's because it's really hard to keep an eye on all of the goods during the production. And sometimes dirty results of the clothes or inadequate stitching could be a problem.

Who do you think would like to wear your designs on?
Women who appreciate distinctive and delicate design...


What we should expect in the near future?
All of my five collections were constructed around a specific idea. The whole idea is developing even more right now. 
For the next collection you'll see more shirts... White will be dominant colour, along with a touch of beige. 
The current collection is "Wake-up ritual" and the next one will be named "Narcosis". It'll be a calm and dignified collection.
I imagine and wish to use a hospital gallery for an exibition. Everything will be white and garments will be worn by sculptures. I hope it comes true.