Istanbul Fashion Week 2010

I was invited to Istanbul fashion week last week by ELLE Turkey along some other bloggers like Pelayo of katelovesme.net and various international editors like Kate Lanphear and Anna Piaggi. It was my first time in Istanbul and I got so many impressions and met so many new people that I am still a bit overwhelmed by the whole trip. Everyone I met was so sweet to me. It was only the third Istanbul fashion week and since I did not know any Turkish designers in advance, I was really excited to be able to attend. I have been thinking for a long time how I should put together all my photos and impressions, because I took most of the pictures with my film cameras and I am still waiting for the films to get developed. So I decided to post only my digital pictures in this entry, which are mainly from the runway shows I attended. Once I get the films back, many more photos will follow.

There were many promising upcoming Turkish designers at Koza Young Designer's Contest and this is one of the outfits I liked the best.


Kate Lanphear (fashion director of ELLE US) and Neslihan from Styleseeking Zurich


Atıl Kutoglu



Bora Aksu (and you can spot Anna Piaggi in the crowd)



Arzu Kaprol


Bahar Korcan


Özlem Süer


Alessandra Ambrosio for Koton

The looks above are my favourite ones from the shows I attended during Istanbul fashion week 2010. Most shows took place at the same place except the ones of Bahar Korcan and Özlem Süer. The show of Bahar Korcan was more a presentation than a catwalk show and it took place at an old theatre. The show of Özlem Süer took place on an island in the Bosphorus inside an old tower, which must be one of the most beautiful locations for a fashion show ever. You will get more visual impressions once I get my films back. I want to thank again the lovely ELLE Turkey team and the ITKIB without whom this trip to Istanbul wouldn't have been possible. Watch out for the other photos by the end of the week here and on my Visual Diary. In the meantime, check out the blog entries about Istanbul fashion week on Styleseeking Zurich, KateLovesMe and Seda's blog!

Melodie McDaniel

Find many more of her pictures on her website.
P.S. I am in Istanbul right now for Istanbul fashion week thanks to ELLE Turkey and I will start blogging again from Tuesday on.

First Day Of My Life

First Day Of My Life by Bright Eyes

Catwalk Colour

I already wrote a little bit about Elle Collections last season here, so I don't want to start all over again by telling you how great it is. I am pretty amazed by the cover and again by the detail and hard work that went into this issue, because it must have taken ages to cut out all these models in Photoshop. They made an even bigger "model rainbow" (I don't know how I should call this) than in the last issue, meaning they took runway looks from various designers and grouped them together according to the colour. Click on the images to enlarge.

Shanghai Dreamers

Dior collaborated once again with Chinese photographer Quentin Shih, who produced a series of photographs with the latest couture collection, that will be displayed in their boutiques. By retouching and multiplying his subjects to form them together into an uniform pattern (in contradiction to the model, who stands out), he plays and provokes with the idea of Chinese mass culture.

Wonderwall

Wonderwall (Cover) by Cat Power

Bits And Bobs #53

T-Shirt by Weekday, Carrot Trousers by Topman, Coat & Shoes by Acne, Vintage Hat, Leather Bag by Un-Ju

My wardrobe was always more on the dark side with many items in black and navy. That is why I have been buying many garments in either nude or an earthy colour lately to lighten it a bit up. And this is probably my most light-coloured outfit so far. I also found this leather bag at a local store here in Zurich, which seems like the luxury version of a canvas tote bag to me. Made of buffalo leather and cotton lining inside, it is the perfect size to fit your laptop and some magazines or books in there. It is also available online.

Kimandra Vintage Clothing

Do you know about Kimandra? It is a project by two very good friends of mine, where they show beautiful pictures and editorials completely styled with vintage clothing found by Kimandra. They are working with different photographers and artists to maintain a variety in the way they present the clothes. Every garment you will find on the website is also available for purchase and they are shipping world-wide. It is not one of these shops selling cheap vintage stuff. The quality of the garments is often pretty high.

Photo taken from my Visual Diary.

Sweet And Lowdown

I was browsing the internet to find a nice editorial to post on my blog but only came across these typical high-gloss editorials, that really bore me by now unless the styling is exceptional. Luckily, I came across an editorial by Nicholas Lawn for Test Magazine, that made me stop immediately and just look. Although it looks like shot on Polaroids, I assume it is just the post-processing and actually shot digitally. I might be wrong though. Regardless of the medium it was shot on, the pictures are strong with its retro styling and different locations. See the full editorial here.

Nia photographed by Nicholas Lawn and styled by Lyson Marchessault for TEST

Eleanor Put Your Boots On

Eleanor Put Your Boots On by Franz Ferdinand

Bits And Bobs #52

Jersey Blazer by Acne, Cotton Trousers by Whyred, V-Neck T-Shirt by American Apparel, Shoes by Acne

This blazer by Acne has become one of their classic pieces that return every season in different colours and fabrics. It is completely unstructured and fits just like a cardigan but has the same cut as a regular blazer, which is a great balance between casual and dapper. These trousers by Whyred on the other hand are made out of a paper-thin cotton fabric, which makes them more stiff and structured than regular trousers.

Phillip Duc

You can see a little about Phillip Duc's work on his blog but I am afraid there is not much to be found.