24 hours of Istanbul Fashion Week

When we talk about Fashion Week, the mind immediately goes to the great fashion capitals. Milan and Paris, catwalks capable of making any designer and fashion addict dream, the favorite stage of the fashion industry. But behind the two capitals hides a list of smaller cities and movements, scenes where talent is born and grows, confirming the theory that, behind the scenes, the most interesting things always happen. On the occasion of the 2022 edition, we spent 24 hours in the heart of the Istanbul Fashion Week, which is more than just a "fashion week" but wants to celebrate and highlight the Turkish capital in all its facets.

«Things are getting better,» Gökhan Yavas, founder and designer of GOKHANYAVAS and one of the stars of the three days of events and shows, told us. «There are a lot of young designers coming out in the last period. But in Turkey, fashion is still seen only as a feminine interest, from Couture to evening gowns. That should change.» GOKHANYAVAS' work represents perhaps the best example of the new Turkish fashion, the one that is able to look with a different eye to tradition creating an ideal bridge between Turkish fashion and something more familiar to us like streetwear. There, where we sat and chatted with Gökhan, the young designers of the Istanbul Fashion Academy had shown some of their creations, a clear example of what we said before that, between a balaclava and a knitted vest, try to imagine a Turkish fashion closer to the trends of the moment.

Another stop of our 24 hours was the atelier of Dice Kayek, a French-Turkish brand founded by sisters Ece and Ayse Ege, probably among the most famous and successful realities of the local scene, able to impose itself as a winning name inside and outside the national borders. In a building overlooking Istanbul, the brand showed its latest collection, giving us a behind-the-scenes look at the creative process behind their garments, whose final touches take place in their Turkish atelier. As in the case of Dice Kayek, Istanbul Fashion Week breaks out of the pattern of the classic fashion week, made of tight rhythms and shows that overlap one another, looking more like a guided tour in a galaxy of brands and realities just waiting to be discovered. Also for this reason, after a dinner in one of the newest areas of the city and freshly renovated, we felt a certain regret at having to say goodbye to the Turkish city after such a short time with the hope, fingers crossed, of being able to visit it again for a few more days.