Showing posts with label Turkish fashion. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Turkish fashion. Show all posts
B-Turk: Relics of the Ottomans on Tees
Several weeks ago, I featured an article on three menswear brands of a Turkish manufacturer called the Orka Group. The labels included Damat, Tween, and ADV.Since then, I have kept you in suspense about a fourth line that the Orka Group has recently launched. It’s called B-Turk, and I have waited, knowing that the concept would be very fitting to our discussion on the history of the Mediterranean isles. In the company’s own words, B-Turk defines itself as:
“a cosmopolitan culture that has survived through thousands of years, inheriting a multicultural, multi-religious, and multilingual structure…bringing the legends of authentic and ethnic Turkish values, symbols, and objects that have evolved throughout national history together.”
The designer is Reha Erdoğan, a graduate from the Istanbul Academy of Fine Arts, Graphics Department, where he received both BA and MA degrees.
B-Turk is radical Turkish design that embraces music, fashion, cuisine, and much more. The fashion line encompasses 50 designer t-shirts, which showcase cultural and historical symbols of the Ottoman Empire.
Sometimes known as the Turkish Empire, the Ottoman Empire lasted from 1302 to 1922 and, with Istanbul as its capital, spanned three continents: southeastern Europe (the Balkans), western Asia, and North Africa. In essence, it is the successor of the Eastern Roman Empire and Byzantium.
While the Ottoman Empire absorbed many cultures, cuisines, and styles of architecture, dress, and music, the Empire also enfused the peoples within its borders with the same influences, leaving a lasting impact that can be seen, heard, and felt today.
So, if you wanna B-Turk, then buy B-Turk!
Photo Copyright Orka Group.
Slideshow Copyright Orka Group.
B-Turk is radical Turkish design that embraces music, fashion, cuisine, and much more. The fashion line encompasses 50 designer t-shirts, which showcase cultural and historical symbols of the Ottoman Empire.
Sometimes known as the Turkish Empire, the Ottoman Empire lasted from 1302 to 1922 and, with Istanbul as its capital, spanned three continents: southeastern Europe (the Balkans), western Asia, and North Africa. In essence, it is the successor of the Eastern Roman Empire and Byzantium.
While the Ottoman Empire absorbed many cultures, cuisines, and styles of architecture, dress, and music, the Empire also enfused the peoples within its borders with the same influences, leaving a lasting impact that can be seen, heard, and felt today.
So, if you wanna B-Turk, then buy B-Turk!
Photo Copyright Orka Group.
Slideshow Copyright Orka Group.
Turkish Men's Fashion: A Glance in History
Recently I was asked to contribute to the first and only men’s magazine in Egypt, Uomo Moda, which in Italian ‘Man’s Fashion’. The editors requested that I write an article on a Turkish company that I had visited several times in Istanbul. As an introduction, I laid out the following brief history of menswear in Turkey.“Turkey boasts a long and rich history of textile production and menswear that dates back many centuries. The men’s fashion industry in Turkey climbed to new heights during the Ottoman period when swank administrators and wealthy members of society shrouded themselves in opulence, sporting fine silks, fur linings, and exquisite embroideries.
Turkey’s sartorial heritage has not gone unnoticed around the world but rather has resounded on the shores of many nations. Recently, the low-crotch Turkish pants called salvars have appeared on the catwalks of some of the most prestigious fashion weeks in Europe. Even Issey Miyake drew inspiration from the striped Ottoman-styled pants and national flower for the 2010 Spring/Summer collection entitled “Very, Very Mosaic.”
Previously the capital city of the Ottoman Empire, Istanbul is heir to all the luxuriant traditions of sumptuous menswear and refined textile production. Straddling two continents, Europe and Asia, Istanbul is also a crossroads where Eastern and Western styles converge and mingle on a daily basis.
Turkey’s sartorial heritage has not gone unnoticed around the world but rather has resounded on the shores of many nations. Recently, the low-crotch Turkish pants called salvars have appeared on the catwalks of some of the most prestigious fashion weeks in Europe. Even Issey Miyake drew inspiration from the striped Ottoman-styled pants and national flower for the 2010 Spring/Summer collection entitled “Very, Very Mosaic.”
Previously the capital city of the Ottoman Empire, Istanbul is heir to all the luxuriant traditions of sumptuous menswear and refined textile production. Straddling two continents, Europe and Asia, Istanbul is also a crossroads where Eastern and Western styles converge and mingle on a daily basis.The modern apparel industry, however, was not born until the industrial boom of the 60’s and 70’s, when countless little shops mushroomed throughout the city. Strong work ethics, inexpensive labor, keen business sense, and a local cotton industry have all contributed to the explosive growth of a vibrant manufacturing industry.
But due to both internal and external factors, Istanbul could not afford to settle with mere textile production. Technical advances within the country and intensifying competition from abroad have thrust the Turkish apparel industry to new heights, giving birth to higher quality fabrics and a thriving ready-to-wear industry.
Within the last decade, Turkish labels have been springing up everywhere. Some claim that close to one-third of all manufacturers in Istanbul have ventured into value-added brand names, which can be seen in showrooms all throughout the city’s three fashion districts: Merter, Laleli, and Osmanbey.”
But due to both internal and external factors, Istanbul could not afford to settle with mere textile production. Technical advances within the country and intensifying competition from abroad have thrust the Turkish apparel industry to new heights, giving birth to higher quality fabrics and a thriving ready-to-wear industry.
Within the last decade, Turkish labels have been springing up everywhere. Some claim that close to one-third of all manufacturers in Istanbul have ventured into value-added brand names, which can be seen in showrooms all throughout the city’s three fashion districts: Merter, Laleli, and Osmanbey.”
By Francesco Di Maio for Uomo Moda
Photo top right Copyright Uomo Moda.
Photo middle left, Francesco at breakfast, Istanbul, Copyright Men's Fashion by Francesco.
Photo bottom right, vendors in Istanbul, Copyright Men's Fashion by Francesco.
Photo middle left, Francesco at breakfast, Istanbul, Copyright Men's Fashion by Francesco.
Photo bottom right, vendors in Istanbul, Copyright Men's Fashion by Francesco.
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