In January 2014, Paris welcomes young Turkish designers

The Turkish Design Cluster that is specialized in women’s wear, comprises 26 Turkish firms including women’s wear producers and designers with their own brands. Now, the cluster is getting ready to participate in Who’s Next Trade Show Paris, January 2014 by 10 designers participation namely; Tuvana Buyukcinar Demir (Tuvanam), Asli Guler, Nejla Guvenc (Nej), Mehtap Elaidi (Elaidi), Cigdem Akin, Gamze Saracoglu, Simay Bulbul, Gul Agis (Lug Von Siga), Nihan Peker and Ozlem Kaya. Ten Turkish designers, each a member of Istanbul Ready Made Garment Exporters Association (IHKIB), will be presenting their latest creations and styles throughout the exhibiton.

Turkish Design Cluster is formed as a result of the project called “Improving International Competitiveness Through Design, Trend and Promotion Based Cooperation in Ready Made Sector. This Cluster based project is coordianated by IHKIB and supported by Ministry of Economy of Turkey as part of its programme called “Support for the Improvement of International Competitiveness (URGE)”. The project started in June 2013.

Asli Guler

Asli Guler was born in 1974 in Izmir, Turkey. In 1999, she took courses in London’s Central Saint Martin’s School of Art and Design after she graduated from Ankara Beaux Arts Fashion College. Between the years 2000 and 2008, she worked as a fashion designer and chief of design teams for fashion brands and retail chains such as Topshop, Inditex Group, Express&Limited Brands and Lindex. In 2008, she founded the brand “Asli Guler” and opened her own design studio. While preparing her seasonal collections, she gives consultancy services to several exporter firms.
www.asliguler.com

Nej

NEj is a brand founded in 2001 by Turkish fashion designer Nejla Guvenc. She has a design house called “NEJ Atelier” in Nisantasi, Istanbul. Her eco-friendly collections has been launched in France, England, Sweden, Portugal, Denmark, Greece, Benelux, Israel and South Korea. She has been part of the design and production teams for brands such as Hugo Boss, Zapa, Rogan, Iro, Gloria Estelles, Pierre Cardin, Gap, Nike, Banana Republic, Zara and Massimo Dutti.
www.nej.com.tr

Elaidi

Mehtap Elaidi opened her first atelier/shop in the April of 2000. In 2003, she opened her second shop in Nisantasi and started showing her collections in international fairs. She launched her second line “Kaf’dan by Elaidi” in Paris Pret-a-Porter in 2008. “Elaidi” collections are sold in her Istanbul shop, in big Turkish cities such as Bursa, Balıkesir and Adana and in various sales points in Lebanon, Morocco, France, U.S.A., Dubai, Saudia Arabia, Kuwait, and Bahrain. She has also contributed in several concept design projects to date.
www.mehtapelaidi.com

Tuvanam

“Tuvanam” is the name of Turkish fashion designer Tuvana Buyukcinar Demir’s brand. She began her foray into retail by opening a new boutique called A46 in 1999. In 2002, she opened her first atelier in Nisantasi, Istanbul. In 2005 she founded the brand Tuvanam which has been represented at fashion fairs in Paris, London, New York and Moscow since that year. Following the success of Tuvanam, she established her original daily-chic brand: “TUTTİ”. At the end of 2011, she opened her first monobrand “TUVANAM” shop in Beirut, Lebanon. She has worked also with Turkcell snd Four Seasons Hotel as corporate costume designer.
www.tuvanam.com

Cigdem Akin

Cigdem Akin was born in 1970 in Istanbul. She has been a designer in the professional fashion world for 24 years. In 2004, after being in the design team of Vakko for many years, she created the brand “Cigdem Akin”. Cigdem Akin has a boutique office in Nisantasi and a store in Galata, Beyoglu, Istanbul. “Cigdem Akin” has been participating in Paris Who’s Next Pret-a-Porter since 2006. She is also giving fashion consultancy to Turkish and foreign brands.
www.cigdemakin.com.tr

Gamze Saracoglu

Gamze Saracoglu studied fashion design in New York’s Parson’s School of Design and took courses in London’s Central Saint Martin’s School of Art and Design. She worked in Donna Karan’s team for a while. In 2004, after she returned to Istanbul and interned in Beymen Club.In 2005 she opened Gamze Saracoglu Fashion Design Studio and began to sell her collections in Istanbul, Paris, London and in many other European capital cities.
www.gamzesaracoglu.com

Simay Bulbul

After taking courses on fashion design in England and in Netherlands, Simay Bulbul began to work in Turkish fashion industry in 2001. In the year 2007, she began to design products with her own brand and etiquette. She generally uses leather in her collections. She held fashion shows in a wide array of countries including Germany, South Korea, Bosnia&Herzegovina and Turkey. She has been producing her designs in her office in Galata, Istanbul since 2011. She has a store named “Letaher Design Boutique”, also in Galata.
www.sim-ay.com

Lug Von Siga

Gul Agıs, is the cerative director and the founder of ‘‘LUG VON SIGA’’, studied at Marangoni / İtaly Fashion Design, then Completed her master’s Degree at Politecnico Di Design, Milan. After launching her first ready to wear collection in London at Olimpia Fair, worked for several italian brands such as Armani, “C’N’C COSTUME NATIONAL” as womens wear designer. Her exquisite taste in using prints and embroidery, gives her collections always a different perspective. She loves experimenting with different textures and shapes on each of her collection. After returning to her home town Istanbul , she started giving creative consultancy to different ready to wear brands. Then she has created her own ready to wear brand in 2010. She participated and showcased as Lug Von Siga to Istanbul Fashion Week for 5 seasons then started showcasing in London during London Fashion Week. Her stockists are mainly in tokyo,Paris and newyork.
www.lugvonsiga.com

Nihan Peker

Nihan Peker was born in 1985, Istanbul. She has taken fashion&textile education. After studying, Nihan has made her internships at famous Turkish brands. After her graduation she made her master degree in Milan’s Istituto Marangoni. She has prepared collections to famous Italian brands such as Frankie Morello, Colmar and Furla. She was on the final of Swarovski Competition and her collection was on the London, Paris and Milan catwalks. Then she moved to Istanbul and decided to establish her own brand which carries her name. Nihan’s ready to wear collections has been showed at Istanbul’s several concept boutiques. Besides her ready to wear collections, she is also designing another avantgarde and couture collection which is exhibiting in her showroom at Nisantasi/Istanbul. She is showing her collections at Istanbul Fashion Week.
www.nihanpeker.com

Ozlem Kaya

Ozlem Kaya is a graduate of Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University, Istanbul. She met Hakan Yildirim, another Turkish fashion designer, while at university and began to assist him. One and a half year after, she finished school and continued to work with Hakan Yildirim at his atelier. Then, she created her own brand and went on to design her collections. She also works for the brand “Asymmetry” by Boyner Holding.
www.ozlemkaya.com