Dear Shaded Viewers //
I am in Istanbul for their third official Fashion Week.
Six shows into the week, I am admittedly looking for the next new names in Turkish fashion but before we look forward perhaps we look back. Last night the Istanbul Modern hosted a special viewing and opening of their current collections.
I was able to view the much talked about Hussein Chalayan exhibition, this being the most comprehensive show of the designers work in Turkey, ever. Curated by Donna Loveday, for me, the highlights were the filmic clips of Tilda Swinton braiding and unbraiding her hair and a DVD titled Anaesthetics (2004) where we watch a chef prepare a dinner for an unfazed women wearing a Chalayan dress.
(exhibition graphic upon entry at the Modern and a look at Chalayan's Inertia Collection)
After Chalayan we attended the opening of Dice Kayek's show entitled ISTANBUL CONTRAST. The show just arrived from the Musee des Arts Decoratifs in Paris and gave me, a newbie to the namesake city, an interesting perspective on the vision of the land, or should I say the landmarks, via 26 designs and over twelve different themes.
(one: Hagia Sophia two: Turkish Delight three: Dolmabahce)
Now for an impromptu look at tomorrow, perhaps premature as I have many shows still to attend, but two designers from the KOZA Young Fashion Designer's contest stood out – those being Ayhan Yetgin, 24 years old, who showed us a leather coat with graphic cut-outs and exaggerated pockets inspired by a 'Top Secret' feeling and 27 year old Meltem Ozbek, a prize winner, who showed us a skilled leather dress attached in strips with a circular center piece.
(one: Yetgin two: Ozbek)
More to come from Istanbul
-Arlette
