FashionableTurkey

Until recently, meaning until I went to see Hussein Chalayan’s exhibition at Istanbul Modern Museum, there were only three things I knew about him. I have heard his name for the first time in 2000, with his “Afterwords” project which I hadn’t known the name back then, and have identified him with his table-skirt. Then, in 2005 I had the opportunity to meet with him once again because he was representing Turkey at the Venice Biennale and his name was very quoted in the media. Our last encounter was during the promotional advertisements for the launching of Vogue in Turkey, whereas his voice saying “I think Vööög is” (with his pronunciation of Vogue) became an attraction of most of the Turkish people (there’s no such thing as bad advertising).

Ambimorphous 2002 F/W

After his exhibition at Istanbul Modern, I adopted a very different regard towards him. Chalayan is not only a much appreciated fashion designer in the international arena, but I believe that he is one of the most successful critical artists and thinkers of our time (and probably that is also the main reason why he is so appreciated). Hussein Chalayan brings together architecture, technology and music with fashion and clothing to make them transportable. In this piece, I will not be focusing on his fashion designs but especially his art projects, which will be read in the lens of transnationalism, immigration and hybridity. So I’m warning from the beginning: this maybe a boring reading and if you do not want to read all of it you can just read the summary in italics which is at the end of this piece.

Turkish Cypriot by origin but English by his settlement, multiculturalism and with it identity hybridization comes to the fore in most of Hussein Chalayan’s work. The hybridity concept that has derived from biology, argues that the globalization does not simplify cultures to a unique one, but rather gives rise to new cultures. In his 2002 Fall/Winter collection, “Ambimorphous”, this hybridity reflects to his clothing, and the patterns which are ethnic cultural elements gradually “evolves” through modern clothing but do not disappear and make a comeback at the end of the show. In this way, the artist probably shows that what we perceive as “modern”/global is not actually so different from the traditional/local, and each are mutually inclusive.

On the other hand, Hussein Chalayan does not define the fashion as a means to representation just based on design. And so he does not only go beyond Turkish designers who have gained international recognition but he also challenges the global fashion community and brings a new look at it. In his arts projects he represents clothing as private properties, archeological talismans or identity elements (DNA). The artist’s positions people and his cloths in the framework of mobility in the triangle of Cyprus-London-Istanbul and in his own fictionalized and extraordinary worlds he tests the moments of encounter, conflict and hybridity of different identities and cultures.

In this respect, we need to talk about the “Afterwords”, which is perhaps the most impressive and best-known work of Hussein Chalayan. In Chalayan’s website, Afterwords is described as such: “Afterwords was inspired by the horror of having to leave your home at the time of war. Initially Chalayan took the inspiration from how Turkish Cypriots (including members of Chalayan’s family) were subjected to ethnic cleansing in Cyprus prior to 1974. In this light a living room was created where clothes were disguised as chair covers, suitcases as chairs and each object in the room fitted into a special pocket which was specifically designed to contain them”. The creation that includes the famous table-skirt, the artist designs the clothes as portable private properties, and so the individuals can carry these items that define their identities and cultures with them when they are subjected to migration due to various political circumstances. Here, the clothes go beyond their original functionalities of covering or protection and their new main function becomes logistical. In the end, they help shaping our new becoming culture that would be embedded to the new society.

Absent Presence- 2005

Another impressive work by Chalayan is his piece that represented Turkey at the 51th Venice Biennale. In the movie of “Absence Presence”, artist starts from the paranoia of terrorism and tackles to the immigrant and refugee policies of the British Government and considers the adaptation issue of the immigrants. In the movie, non-British women are asked to donate their clothes to a biologist. The biologist examines the clothes and the DNAs in order to examine the sound map of London, and measure the reactions of each individual to his/her surroundings. In the end, the biologist realizes that she will never understand the real identities of the people in the world because there is a constant movement and cleanses herself to escape from this knowledge. Whereas in the Afterwords the clothes were representing what is outside, in Absent Presence, they include what is inside, or in other words our DNA and identities. With this study, it is possible to know who we are, what we do, how we react according to clothes; and this is not a matter of designing of the clothes but because they are biologic parts of ourselves. Once again we encounter hybridity in a way presented in the post-colonial theory and the thinking of Homi Bhabha. We encounter the fear of colonizers, who feel themselves as the key authority but at the same time afraid of the “others” (in this case non-British women), will not be assimilated in their own cultures but impose their own cultures on themselves. The fact that the biologist tries to cleanse herself from the knowledge of no pure identity in the world shows that in fact there is no actual pure self in the world, because we are all hybrids.

Two other works that I will briefly present of Hussein Chalayan can be given as examplesof temporality and movement phenomena. In Temporal Meditations, we see people who eat raki while eating watermelons or play backgammon on a tea tray. The artist shows the past and the future according to migration paths, and the clothes or garments in the movie become a sort of talisman. In Place to Passage, he describes a woman who travels alone in a technological boat, and the loneliness of displacement is considered in the movie.

I tried to approach to a part of Hussein Chalayan’s work and only in a superficial manner. I believe that a lot of work needs to be done on his projects with regarding to hybridity, transnationalism and also technology, temporality and musicality. In this way, maybe we can observe better the encounters of the Turkish society with the west, and understand the conflicts, fears and solidarity, clasping together and hybridity of both sides.

(In short: Hussein Chalayan rulez!)

Istanbul Fashion Week 2010 was held in the ancient and magnificient building of Istanbul Technical University Taşkışla in 25-28 August and as every event held in Istanbul, it was included to the Istanbul 2010 European Capital of Culture agenda. The Fashion Week that was held in Istanbul in 2005 for the first time, since two years covers a four day marathon of four days in August and February. As it was stated by the Istanbul Clothing and Apparel Exporters Union Chairman who interviewed to CNN Turkey before the IFW in February, IFW intends to "provide Turkey with a fashion culture" and to transfer it to the international platform.

This organization is managed by Istanbul Textile and Apparel Exporters' Union as well as the Undersecretariat of Foreign Trade, Fashion Designers Association and Istanbul Fashion Academy. Fashion designers such as Atıl Kutoglu, Arzu Kaprol and Bahar Korcan who shaped Turkish fashion in the last years attended to the event as well as some "young talents" and brands.

Leaving behind the serious part of this event, let's pass to the observations of an alien to fashion on IFW 2010...

I was able to enter from the land of people who are not even aware of the Fashion Week to another one that has worked for it for a long time, thanks to Vogue's online invitation. Entering through the gates of ITU with an army of security and people committed to fashion, I told them that I came for peace. Trying to protect my academic identity, I was not stylish at all (the only designed accessories I had for the two days were the silver filigree I have designed) and I admit that maybe I behaved a bit shamefully. I tried to find a place to myself at the yard which brough together a portion of Istanbul's fashion world. For the first timers like me: if you do not want to take attention, or to draw good attention, you need to follow the latest fashion trends, select at least a few pieces suitable to your taste and wear them.

Simay Bülbül Catwalk - 26.08.2010


So who were at the IFW? Fashion Week is not open to the public and you need an invitation to get inside; and unless you try your chance with Vogue, there is no possibility to get inside if you're not somehow linked to the fashion business. As I understand it, at the top of the fashion hierarchy there are fashion designers and fashion magazine editors; after them people with access to the backstage such as models (which make you feel like a hobbit in the restroom), stylishs, make-up artists; professionals of clothing, textiles and apparel field (which I did not observe any), fashion professionals such as photographers, fashion magazine employees, organizers, trademarks, and finally general press and bloggers (my observations may be missing, thanks in advance to those who would support me via e-mail).

As I learned from a fashion photographer friend of mine, except for this pyramid established in the fashion industry there was another hierarchy that was based on the very heart of fashion: which can be named as the "style hierarchy". My friend's four-layered style hierarchy is very relative to Bourdieu's concept of habitus. According to Bourdieu, the mind is exposed to various schematas, sensitivities, trends and tastes. We live with these concepts since our childhood because of the social structures we live in and we combine them with our personal subjectivity in order to create our identity. In order to step up in the style hierarchy, a person needs to have a certain social/cultural and economic capital and to be able to digest it. In this respect, the people that could be defined as trendsetters were located at the top of the hierarchy, they had some kind of "anomal" looks and they caught everyone's attention for setting the future trends of fashion. In the second place there were the casual stylish. The other two after this layer was composed of two opposite groups: the ones who did not try to dress fashionable (casuals) and the others who tried too hard to dress fashionable but could not digest it that can be named as parvenu, or the new arrivals.

Economic capital is not the single important factor in forming these groups. For example, the parvenus may have poured a lot of money for the clothes they carry on them, but as long as they lack establishing a position in the fashion world with their clothes, they will remain as new arrivals. However, money is still an important factor. Because the admission to the fashionables society necessitates the continuing pursuit of the latest fashion and you cannot use clothes from previous season's discounts (only vintage is acceptable); you either have to buy clothes with hand-burning prices or maintain clothes and accessories that you're sure won't find on someone else -most probably from abroad-. Not everyone who's interested in becoming a trendsetter can become one because you have to dominate the popular and alternative culture, to be a part of it and be known in this world for a while.

Another point that I saw about the Fashion Week was that it carried over the effects of being very new. Yes, perhaps I have never been to a fashion week before elsewhere, but my stylist mother has always told me of Fashion Fairs such as the one in Dusseldorf, which I did not get the same feelings in IFW 2010. I felt that there wasn't enough exitement to participate in the catwalks, I though the "mother/father" figures of Turkish fashion would be more present but it remained limited, there were two hours of waiting between ten minute shows, most comments on the internet after the catwalks were not generally positive and on the stands there were brands rather than fashion designers.

The Fashion Week occupies in fact a very important position for a "textile country" like Turkey, but baby steps are being taken at the organization and PR issues. IFW, which is desired to be recognized in the international platform is not even properly recognized by the middle-upper class even though it should be the target. In this perspective, we could discuss how well the general press, an important factor for the PR was welcomed. Besides, it seems more meaningful and effective to have famous Turkish people (or in other words the gatekeepers such as talk show hosts or musicians) rather than Meg Ryan, who in the quest for becoming international was brought in the last February's IFW.

But contrary to my wise-ass and maybe a bit unfair critics, I have observed clearly that IFW has a very important role in the development of Turkish fashion industry. An Australian professional make-up artist/bodypainter Georgina supported this same idea. She is living in Istanbul by chance since four years and told me that she believes there has been a constant progress in these last four years; especially in the perception of fashion (which has always been focused on textiles before). I believe that the emphasis on "young designers" and the inviting of bloggers (who can have access to a specific public) to such events are consequences of this change.

In this blog that I've been running for more than six months now (I'm talking about the Turkish version), the most prominent issue was this change in the perception of fashion in Turkey. While finishing this article, I reveal the future question of my research. Having a past full of homemade dressmaking, and a main role of fashion in Ottoman and Turkish women's emancipation processes, fashion was re-discovered in the name of textile after the textile boom in 1990s. So how did fashion (not textile) suddenly became more important in these last few years, with a new claim to become a center of fashion in the international terms? In my next posts, I will try to focus on this question.

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