TURKISH DESIGNERS NYFW THE SHOWS FEBRUARY 2020

NEW YORK, NY (February 2020) – Under the simple moniker ‘Turkish Designers’, Asli Filinta, Deniz Berdan, Simay Bulba and Hakan Akkaya, each showed strong visions that truly asserted their rightful place in fashions is on the runways of NYFW at Spring Studios, Gallery II. The show, held on Tuesday, February 11th @ 7:00 PM, was generously underwritten by the Turkish Government as well as the Turkish Textile Council.

SİMAY BÜLBÜL:​ Fashion designer Simay Bülbül Sarıpınar brought a different perspective to the fashion design sector, mainly by using leather and by pairing leather and knitting together in her collections. Simay Bülbül brings together her trainings in the UK and the Netherlands and the works she has done in the field of design in the vision for the collections. She also provides design and brand consultancy services to various companies, as well as education, film and various art activities.

Simay Bülbül, first place winner of 2003 Derisigner (Leather Design Competition), brings together simplicity and difference with her leather collections, finished in harmony with her textile products. Simay Bülbül Sarıpınar, who has been active in the fashion industry since 2001, first started to design with her name and label in 2007. Describing the brand identity as “Bohemian Elegance,” the designer dresses women who seek or find their way, feel the design, and love to live outside the boundaries.

Simay Bülbül, who made her first fashion show in Garage Istanbul with the collection of “Fairy Tales Detached From the Reels” in 2008, took place regularly in Istanbul Fashion Days, İstanbul Week and Mercedes Benz Fashion Week Istanbul organizations as of 2009. As part of 2010 Istanbul Capital of Culture projects, to represent Turkey, Simay Bülbül Sarıpınar had a fashion show in Germany's Ruhr city in 2011, and after her show in Sarajevo, she presented her collection named Ece at the Korea World fair as a representative of Turkey.

Simay Bülbül Sarıpınar has been a board member of the Fashion Designers Association since 2012. She is also the founder partner of Fikriperver Agency, Perveran (concept store), Muhterif (concept store), KSKM (Capadoccia Art and Culture Center), and Kırmızı Karavan, which designs projects for many brands outside of fashion. Simay Bülbül Sarıpınar, who has been involved in voluntary work with children since 2012, established the Kırmızı Çocuklar Derneği in 2018 to raise awareness around protection of family and the development of protected children.

DB BERDAN:​ DB BERDAN is a young and sharp London based urban lux brand. They are a matriarchal queer brand that loves to use their own prints to tell their stories. They are very much a story driven brand that get their biggest inspiration from the social rights movements, streets and underground cultures. Unifying music, film and performance they really don’t shy away from expressing themselves as much as they can.

DB BERDAN continue to bring a sense of pride and freedom of speech to their collections, D is for diversity. Their socially advanced garments embrace every part of postmodern society in passionate and spirited street wear.

DB BERDAN is for any person who enjoys bold colors and bold statements with sarcastic humor. The brand has achieved great critical acclaim within the industry with their collections being featured across publications such as Vogue UK, Vogue Italia, Gay Times, Paper Magazine and more. Their celebrity fans include Halsey, GIRLI, Lady Leshurr, Dope Saint Jude, Becca Dudley, Stefflon Don, Nadia Rose and many more.

They have been Mercedes Bens Presents DB Berdan two times in a row; one with their AW 2017 in MBFW Istanbul and after with SS 2018 in MBFW Tbilisi. They have collaborated with international corporations like Pepsi, Reebok, Braun, Redbull, Bioderma, Disney Company, Starbucks, Nescafe, Douglas Cosmetic, Ikea, Sunglass Hut, Macro Center, Maybelline NY, and PepsiCo. In 2013, inspired by the movie “Oz The Great and Powerful”, they designed 4 costumes for the European launch of the movie in LWF Somerset house with Nicholas Kirkwood. Also, they were the first Turks that got into the international press release.

HAKAN AKKAYA:​ Hakan Akkaya left Bilkent University Architecture Department on the second year and took fashion design training in Istasyon Art Academy and over the past 19 years has been pursuing his fashion designer career. He had been a department manager in the leading companies of the fashion industry such as Boyner Holding , Altınyıldız and Sarar.

He was the first Turkish designer who attended Who’s Next Paris and Bread&Butter Berlin Fair with his menswear collection in 2012. He had attracted great interest with his fashion shows, both men's and women's collections, for eight seasons in Mercedes Benz Fashion Week Istanbul.

Hakan Akkaya was also the moderator and jury of TV shows for six seasons. For Kızılay corporate employees, Hakan Akkaya’s designs made from nanotechnology fabrics with the support of ITHIB (Istanbul Textile and Raw Materials Exporters Association), were presented with a press conference held in Çırağan Palace. He is consultant of ITHIB and has also been part of the ITHIB Fabric Design Contest jury at 2014 and 2018. The finalist’s fabrics become elegant garments at Hakan Akkaya’s Atelier and are presented with a fashion show. His two fashion shows in Turkey ‘120 Days of Sodom’ and ‘Marie Antoinette’ became a sensational news in Turkish and worldwide press. He represented his collections with magnificent runway shows.

Hakan Akkaya became the first and the only Turkish Designer included on the New York Fashion Week Official schedule. He presented his collections in New York Fashion Week in February 2017, September 2017 and February 2019. As well as preparing custom-made designs for both men and women with the brand HAKAN AKKAYA, he is also designing pret-a-porter products

Keep reading Cognac's Corner Magazine for NYFW 2020 updates.

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