4 posts tagged "Hakaan Yildirim"
Lost In Transit: Hakaan Cancels His Spring Show
London-based designer Hakaan Yildirim, who was slated to show his Spring 2013 collection tomorrow in Paris, has been forced to call off his show because the clothes were lost by the courier company. The Turkish-born up-and-comer, who won the ANDAM Award in 2010 and debuted his Hakaan line at London fashion week the same year (with the likes of Kate Moss, Emmanuelle Alt, and Carine Roitfeld all in the front row), is reportedly remaking the show pieces for editors and buyers to view in the showroom. The clothes will be available for editorial requests as usual.
Talk Supe At Hakaan’s After-Party
When Naomi Campbell swept into Le Montana last night for ANDAM winner Hakaan Yildirim’s after-party, she pursed her lips and gently shook her head at an intrepid reporter’s tape recorder in a gesture at least as old as Garbo. But no matter. The stonewalling supermodel’s presence itself spoke volumes. It may not have been the party of the night—an honor reserved for a veteran, not a relative rookie—but it was a required stop for the girls who made the show a hit both on the runway and in the front row. That includes Eva Herzigova, Anja Rubik, Alessandra Ambrosio, and Natalia Vodianova (who came by early with Jefferson Hack), as well as fashion folk like Giambattista Valli, Charlotte Dellal, and Hidetoshi Nakata. Also taking in the dark, smoky scene were visiting New Yorkers Thakoon Panichgul, Lorenzo Martone, and Suno duo Max Osterweis and Erin Beatty.
Campbell commandeered the best downstairs booth with a perfect view of the dance floor, where she sat with boyfriend, Vladislav Doronin, and Bar Refaeli, the latter keeping an eye on beau Leonardo DiCaprio. (Though Leo, with baseball cap pulled low, wasn’t so much dancing as swaying with the shoulder-to-shoulder crowd.) For his part, Yildirim (above, with Arizona Muse and Lindsey Wixson) pronounced himself “happy but just very tired.” That wasn’t entirely the case with the line’s creative director (and photographer), Mert Alas, who played the host. “I liked it, but I’m never happy,” said Alas, half in jest. “You know when you have a perfect vision of how it should be? So I hate it all.”
Istanbul Fashion Week Draws A Crowd
At the still-young Istanbul fashion week, which just completed its third season, the signs of an international fashion week seemed to be in place. Old shows (Chanel’s Spring ’10 hayride, for one) were playing on the hotel television. From the abbreviated crews of American, Italian, French, and British editors and retailers, you could easily pick out Anna Piaggi, Patricia Field, Susie Bubble, Satine’s Jeannie Lee, and Olivier Zahm. Even the absent Bryanboy wistfully tweeted that he’d like to be in the mix.
The runway offered up a mixed bag. There were the cartoony club clothes of Gunseli Turkay and the crafty futuristic eveningwear of Arzu Kaprol, an established designer with boutiques across the country. Central Saint Martins grad and Londoner Bora Aksu created a special collection just for the week, a parade of pretty pieces in nudes and pales with lingerie details inspired by a 100-year-old Istanbul shop called Butterfly Corset. But for his Spring ’11 collection, you’ll have to head to London, where he’ll show alongside countryman Hakaan Yildirim, who nabbed this year’s ANDAM prize.
“The inspiration is very literal, but it’s a first step,” said Los Angeles boutique owner Des Kohan. “The government is really positive, and there’s great buzz.” Kohan saw the pervading influence of Turkish Cypriot Hussein Chalayan, whose retrospective Hussein Chalayan: 1994-2010 is showing at Istanbul’s Museum of Modern Art. (It runs through October 24.) Chalayan, though, shows in Paris, as does another major Turkish export, Dice Kayek, the subject of a concurrent show at the museum called Istanbul/Contrast. And at a dinner for the latter label’s designer Ece Ege on the rooftop of the Marmara Pera hotel, Zahm (pictured with Ege, above) admitted the city inspired him more than the shows. “It’s the first time I’m here professionally. Istanbul has great energy; it’s like New York,” he said, before snapping pictures of the spectacular view. Truthfully, the week seemed to be more about discovering that than anything else.
And The ANDAM Winner Is…
Turkish designer Hakaan Yildirim (pictured) is the newest winner of ANDAM’s €220,000 prize. Reached for comment in Istanbul, Yildrim and his friend and collaborator, Mert Alas, responded simply: “This is so magical. We are honored.” Hakaan beat out a strong group, including Mark Fast; former Mugler designer Alexandre Vauthier; Francesco Scognamiglio; former Balenciaga and Christian Lacroix designer Bouchra Jarrar; and Calla Haynes, who worked with Olivier Theyskens for five years at Rochas and Nina Ricci.
It was only last February, before his first London show, that English fashion scribes were wondering in print: “Who is Hakaan?” Besides reporting that he’d dressed Rose Byrne in one of his sculptured, feathered minidresses for the third-season premiere of Damages, they didn’t find much else to report. But his first show was a game-changer. It was star-studded on the runway (Lara Stone, Natalia Vodianova, Mariacarla Boscono, Natasha Poly, and Anja Rubik all walked) and in the front row (Carine Roitfeld made a special trip to London on the advice of Alas). The collection was glamorous and ultra-fitted, indulging in Yildirim’s passion for leather and ostrich feathers and drawing comparisons to Riccardo Tisci’s work for Givenchy.
Yildirim’s benefactors are as starry as his front row: The jury this year consisted of Roitfeld, LVMH’s Delphine Arnault, Alber Elbaz, Musée de la Mode curator Pamela Golbin, Colette’s Sarah Lerfel, Dazed & Confused‘s Jefferson Hack, and Opening Ceremony’s Humberto Leon. And with the cash prize (up ⁈60,000 from last year’s trophy) come stipulations not only to show in Paris, but to open a French company, too. “We’ve felt the pressure to help France,” explains ANDAM founder Nathalie Dufour about the change. “This year’s six nominees included three French brands, but we want to be able to award talent wherever we find it, so we thought having the winner establish themselves by opening a French company was a logical step.”