Fashion doesn’t exist in a vacuum. As Coco Chanel once said, it’s “in the sky, in the street; fashion has to do with ideas, the way we live, what’s happening.” So how, as a designer, you do respond to what’s going on in the world when that's a tragedy close to home or heart?
On February 6, 2023 a magnitude 7.8 earth quake hit south-eastern Türkiye, and northern Syria. It was catastrophic - causing unfathomable damage and loss of life. Official figures put the death toll beyond 50,000 people. And to make matters worse, it was bitterly cold winter. Against such a backdrop, fashion’s concerns may seem trifling, but the region is a textiles centre, while and the many garment factories on the other side of Turkey will also feel the effects, with huge numbers of people displaced and vulnerable. Plus through all this, fashion month went on.
What do you do as a creative from an affected country, when you’re reeling from this but not there on the ground? Or not physically impacted? How do you just carry on as normal? Should you even try? If not, then what? On a practical level, do you cancel your fashion show? Realistically, what good would that do?
Do you try to compartmentalise, or block it out, or use your platform to speak out and raise money? Probably all of the above, at the same time! There’s obviously no correct answer, but these are the questions. And also, the context for this week’s interview with London-based Turkish designer Bora Aksu, who shares candidly about what it means to be a creative trying to navigate all this.
But while this is how the conversation begins - it's not how it ends. At its heart, this is a warm, hopeful and inspiring interview about fashion, family, craft, heritage, upcycling and the practical work of trying to choose the most sustainable textiles as a fashion designer – Bora has been has doing it for years, long before sustainability became the next big thing.
NOTES
EARTHQUAKE On February 6, 2023, a catastrophic earthquake hit southeastern Türkiye and northern Syria, resulting in harrowing scenes and killing more than 50,000 people.
“Since 1900, in this region, one of the planet’s most active earthquake zones, there had been 21 earthquakes of 7.0 magnitude or higher. After this one hit — 7.8 on the scale, the strongest here since 1939 — nothing would be the same … The death toll is still rising, mounds of rubble scar towns and cities, and rebuilding remains a distant promise. The geologists would explain that the disaster was the result of three tectonic plates that make up part of the planet’s crust bumping into each other, as the Arabian Plate bumped into the Eurasian one, pushing the Anatolian one toward the west.” Read the rest via Washington Post.
The damage in Türkiye will exceed $100bn, says UN.
A month on, BBC reports “Those who survived face an uncertain future. One of their most serious problems is finding somewhere safe to live. At least 1.5 million people are now homeless, and it's unclear how long it will take to find them proper shelter.”
GAZANTIEP FORT IN RUINS via Guardian. Syria and Turkey are considered cradles of human civilisation and home to some of the world’s most precious relics of antiquity, boasting several Unesco world heritage sites, including the ancient city of Aleppo, already ravaged by the Syrian civil war.
FASHION’S RESPONSE DURING LONDON FASHION WEEK The OXFAM / eBay show, Fashion Fighting Poverty 23, presented only thrifted looks on the runway, and auctioned all of them off after the show - to fundraise for earthquake relief efforts.
DILARA FINDIKOĞLU “I feel helpless, I feel speechless more than ever after what mother nature caused in my hometown. I have been drowning in the fine line between my craft and the disaster for the last 2 weeks, but I decided to do what I do best, use my voice as much as I can,” as she wrote in her shownotes, which included a QR code with a link to donate to earthquake relief funds.
SUPPLY CHAINS Türkiye is one of the major production countries for clothing and textiles, with many factories located in the country. “Ramazan Kaya, president of the Turkish Clothing Manufacturers Association, told Sourcing Journal that it’s still too early to determine the impact of the earthquakes on the country’s garment sector, one of the world’s top exporters.” via SOURCING JOURNAL. Read the rest here.
Listen to Episode 67 with TAMARA CINCIK here.
BORA AKSU was born and raised in Ismir, Türkiye, and moved to London to study at Central Saint Martins. He graduated in 2002, and garments from his collection were purchased by Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana as inspirational pieces. Aksu was awarded NEWGEN funding for eight consecutive seasons ‘There is an imperfection to my work which creates purity and beauty’ the designer explains. Bora Aksu’s deftness of touch and investment in craftsmanship also draws on his Turkish roots, giving his collections a unique demi-couture quality; an element that has distinguished the designer’s position in the fashion industry over the last 15 years. ‘My grandma and my aunt were constantly working on creating something beautiful and I try to bring this handcrafted approach into my own design identity, to make the designs unique, but also to keep craftwork relevant to fashion today’. Via LFW.
The designer was quietly championing ethical and sustainable fashion long before it became trendy. Indeed, his very first London fashion week collection featured pieces upcycled out of old military uniforms, Victorian dresses and 1970s leather bags. In 2008, he started working with People Tree to raise awareness about fair trade fashion. Over the years, he has championed many artisanal craft traditions.
AUTUMN 23 COLLECTION “For his muse, Bora Aksu takes inspiration from two outsiders separated by time and place but united in their ambitious nonconformity; the troubled artist Edvard Munch and the countercultural symbol that is Wednesday Addams.
“In a collection that juxtaposes foreboding tones and rough detailing with the femininity and demi-couture craftsmanship that has become Aksu’s staple, AW23-24 celebrates a woman who knows herself and champions her imperfections against all adversity.
“This collection sees Bora Aksu rework past motifs to create a sense of circulation within his designs, focusing on loved ideas from the past and finding ways to rework, enhance and ultimately redefine them for a new season. Bora Aksu has once again utilised old, unused and rejected fabrics to craft his pieces. This enhances the demi-couture craftsmanship of the collection while enhancing the garments with intricate and unique detailing.”
RIFAT OZBEK is the iconic Turkish designer who launched his fashion line, Ozbek, in London in 1985, after graduating from St Martins. He went on to twice win the Designer of the Year award from the BFC. These days, he is focused on interiors and much loved for his design company Yastik.
Antique Ottoman textiles, via Met Museum, NY.
TURKISH TEXTILE HANDCRAFT Bora is right to push back against the idea of modern Türkiye being only about cotton production or cut-make-sew for fast fashion. Some of the finest woven and hand-embellished fabrics have come from the region since the 13th century, and endure - with traditions of carpet-making, cloth-weaving, tile-making, ceramics and pottery, embroidery, leather manufacture, musical instrument-making, masonry, copper work, basket-making, saddle-making, felt-making as diverse as they are beautiful.
“Ottoman silk textiles are among the most elegant textiles produced in the Islamic world. They are characterized by large-scale stylized motifs often highlighted by shimmering metallic threads. Executed in a range of woven techniques including satin and velvet, these silks were produced for use both within the Ottoman empire and for export to Europe and the Middle East, where they were considered among the most prized luxury objects.” via Met Museum, read the rest here.
WENDY DAGWORTHY led the fashion course at St Martins in the 1990s, teaching Bora, Stella McCartney and Hussein Chayalan. In the 1970s and 80s, her eponymous womenswear label made waves. Dagworthy joined the Royal College of Art in 1998 as Professor and Head of Fashion, becoming Head of the School of Fashion & Textiles in 2000 and then Dean of the School of Material. She retired in 2014.
P.S. In case you’re wondering, FLORENTINE GILTWOOD looks like this:
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