BLOG: 2015 Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Istanbul Notes

Süreyya Güvene Sakallıoğlu

AA Photo

The Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Istanbul hosted creative, colorful and attractive designs for this fashion season. The event was held at Warehouse 3 for three seasons and at Kuruçeşme for one season.  It was held at Warehouse 17 this season and it was worth seeing.

Determining the show program in last three days caused difficulties in the organization. During the fashion week, which hosted 41 designers, 21 designers performed shows, 16 performed presentations in the studio area and four performed outdoors.

The first show of the five-day fashion week belonged to the “Affair” brand that is trying to breathe new breath into men’s fashion. Then, Salih Balta’s “Matahari,” Meltem Özbek’s “Mell,” and Deniz Berdan succeeded with their colorful imagination in the shows of “db Berdan,” in which Selim Baklacı, EceGözen and Niyazi Erdoğan took place. The last show was performed by the Raisa & Vanessa siblings. The “Winter Garden” show, performed at the Maslak venue, succeeded in drawing attention again.

The second day started with “The Core” (who aim to transform the collections of designers participating in fashion week into commercial opportunities) opening. It continued with a show entitled “From tradition to future: a complete cosmic Nasreddin Hodja with visual stories,” a collection by Aslı Jackson.
 
Then, young designer Benan Bal highlighted sporty details in classic men’s wear. The “Influence” collection of Ayşe Deniz featured clothes made from used car tires (which resembled leather at a first glance) designed by Tuba Ergin, which was definitely worth seeing. Merve Bayındır, known for hats, realized her blue colored creative collection called “Pandora” on the mini runway area. During the first two days, the “strongest” men collection belonged to Emre Erdemoğlu, with the successful styling of Alex Kokosheriya. The Özgür Mansur show was dominated by celebrities, causing problems due to its intense demand, with LCVs who were taken but not added to the list and officers shouting at invitees.

The collection called “Fısıltı” (or “whisper”) was revealed at the request of many women. At the end of the day, the “Adam in Town” magazine party was held in La Petite Maison, hosted of Oben Budak and Alex Kokosheriya.

The third day started with the “Çanakkale Martyrdoms”-themed show of Selma State under the name “Haykırış” (“shout” in English). Then, Giray Sepin presented his designs which reflected the “Atlas” themed, nomad spirit. The “Transitions” collection of Cashmere in Love was performed in Istanbul’74, with a pure line of knitwear and weaved tissues with large details. The motive of Lady Faith (the brand of Nazlı Soylu) was furs and fur caps. Özlem Kaya reflected the vintage spirit in her collection with velvet, retro patterns and the colors of the 1970s. The creative mind of Maid in Love, Hande Çokrak, prepared a colorful entertaining collection again and succeeded. Black handprint facial makeup highlighted the show of Ceyda Balaban. The name of the collection reflected its spirit: “Save the Galaxy & Get the Girl.”

The fourth day started with “Rashid” by Raşit Bağzıbağlı in his first show. The shows continued with Belma Demir, Red Beard, Önder Özkan, Z by Zeynep Devooght and Çiğdem Akın. At the “Nedo” show, Nedret Taciroğlu had the opportunity to introduce his collection called “Kelebek Etkisi” (“Butterfly Effect”) with a special presentation of his first participation in a fashion week.  We have previously seen the short, black, sequined piece from the 2015/16 Autumn/Winter Demi-Couture collection of Eda Taşpınar. The designer’s show garnered much interest from celebrities. With the Head of Fashion Designers Association (MTD) celebrating its 15th anniversary, Mehtap Elaidi highlighted the female silhouette with lines that put forth a sophisticated spirit with extravagant ruffled details, flounces and velvets. The closing of the collection, “Spice,” was performed by Özge Ulusoy in a black suit. Zeynep Tosun’s “Jazz” collection was given a standing ovation, which was expected from the designer. The thin halter’s deep V-neckline and backless period seemed to have popped out of ambitious films. Each part of the collection was impressive. The most powerful name of the fashion week was Zeynep Tosun.
The fifth day saw the “An” collection, with its designer Bashaques appearing in her first fashion show.

“White Posture” added contemporary, strong and geometrical forms to white shirt fashion and colored its mini runway presentation with Istanbul Opera and Ballet performer Pelin Dumlu. Then the Burçe Bekrek, Zeynep Erdoğan, Mercedes-Benz Presents Gülçin Çengel and David Çatalan parades were presented. Les Benjamins closed the 2015 Fall Fashion Week. The participation record was broken at the show preformed at the Sultan Ahmet Binbir Direk Sarnıcı. Fashion world personalities participated in the pre-show cocktail. Then, the party started. Bünyamin Aydın prepared a memorable show with an excellent marketing strategy; it seems that he will someday be a world brand.

Serdar Uzuntaş, celebrating his fifth year in the sector, introduced his collection in a special show with the participation of very few people. He has clothed celebrities such as Tarkan, Murat Boz and Murat Dalkılıç.

The fashion giant Moschino designed three different packages for Coca Cola, with a cow-patterned Inspired by Nature, Eye Chart and Hearts. At the same time, the beverage sponsor of the company and its packaging was introduced for the first time. There was also a special event featuring important names of the fashion world on the closing days. A March 22 fashion press conference was led by Ferhan Istanbullu, ECE Sükan Elif Cığızoğlu, Onur Dağ and Koray Birand.