“Minarets”
Ezgi Turksoy was born in Istanbul and studied Product Design at Central Saint Martins College of Art & Design in London. She graduated in 2008, and has worked with design studios such as Suck UK and Paul Cocksedge Design Studio. She recently opened a studio in London where she works on Self-initiated & Client projects as well as collaborating with British designer Kacper Hamilton.
Greatest inspirations/influences?
I believe one can be inspired/influenced by almost everything, doesn’t have to be something specific. Me,I love observing. When I design I am mostly concerned about exploring how Design can increase the experience & emotional value of an object.
Challenges of what you do?
Finding the right people to work with in terms of manufacturers or technical support.
What would be a dream project for you?
To be involved in a design project with Csikszentmihaly or Donald Norman.
Most interesting collaborations so far ?
Designing ‘Minarets’ with Kacper Hamilton. We have come together to collaborate on a project inspired by found scrap objects. We were inspired by scrap glass pieces found at a glass blowers workshop in London. We found a strange beauty within each scrap piece as they contained natural flaws from the process of blowing glass, which cannot normally be made intentionally or replicated. The forms of the found pieces have a strong visual reference of an architectural landscape, which reminded us of Istanbul with its tall Minarets towering above the rest of the city. ‘Minarets’ will be exclusively exhibited at Mint for the London Design Festival 2010. It was amazing to work together as we are very similar but at the same time very different from each other. We complimented each other very well.
Favorite websites/blogs?
Up and coming projects to be on the look out for?
I am working on a project with recycled glass bottles!
Photo above is a series of conceptual spoons that challenge the conventional ritual of eating. “Each spoon is inspired by imperfect & naughty eating habits such biting/ licking a spoon, stealing someone’s food & sharing a dish.”
DESIGN / ART DIRECTION · LOGO / VISUAL IDENTITY
“Sun” is the second video from Caribou’s Swim, following “Odessa.” Directed by Simon Owens, the same guy who did LCD Soundsystem’s “New York, I Love You But You’re Bringing Me Down” Kermit video. Simon attended art school in London, and then joined a group called Tomato. He later set up The Imaginary Tennis Club with a short lived but highly successful gallery called Millers Terrace. He was listed in the 200 of the most important creatives of the future by ID magazine.
I’ve created situations and creative enterprises, and now i’m gathering that all together- Simon
Greatest inspirations or influences?
Challenges of what you do?
Convincing others to see the ‘vision’
What would be a “dream” project for you?
Project your most proud of so far?
My moving box studio, it’s modular, and all on wheels.…
Favorite sites/blogs?
It would have to be the BBC’s football gossip page, i’m sadly obsessed… that and ‘Kick to kill’ blog spot plus a Scandinavian furniture site which will remain secret, that I pour over late at night…
Up and coming artists we should know about?
he’s just going to murk it!
Anything else you’d like to share with our audience?
I knew what was going to happen in my 20′s, I don’t know what is going to happen in my 30′s.
An Awesome Short Film About New York City
A group of German filmmakers were in town shooting a commercial and spent their free time making this killer short film about life in New York. Shot by Thomas Noesner of the production company Stereoscreen with a soundtrack by Tussaint (which is a remix of a beat created by a subway drummer). Thank you Gawker!
THE BEAT OF NEW YORK from tim hahne on Vimeo.
London-based Designer Fuses Modern Urban Style with British Tailoring
The son of legendary South Asian designer Mani Kohli of Khubsoorat Collection, Saran has been involved in the fashion world since a very young age. In 2008, he received his B.A (Hons) Graduate from London College of Fashion in Fashion Management and was quickly tapped by Japanese designer Michiko Koshino as a PR/Marketing assistant. Hugo Boss came next as he was headhunted for a position in sales and later promoted to Hugo Boss Red/ Black Collection Analyst.
Saran is also a well-respected dance choreographer and performer who formed the dance group “Snach” at the age of 17. Since then, Snach has been commissioned to perform all over the UK as well as in New York City and India, working with a number of well-respected musicians and featured in their music videos. Today, the designer continues his involvement with Snach choosing to work with the youth to promote urban dance culture.
The Saran Kohli Collection gathers inspiration from all aspects of the young designer’s life from music, to dance and his extensive global travels. The line is geared towards the man who prefers a distinctive, more personalized style that blends elements of global culture and music while remaining true to the principles of traditional English tailoring and cut.
Greatest inspirations or influences?
Favorite publications/sites/blogs?
What your most looking fwd to about fashion week?
I will be missing NY Fashion Week but I was really looking forward to seeing Richie Rich, Y-3, General-idea.
Why do you think so many international designers choose to present their collections in NY rather than anywhere else?
Fashion icons in your opinion?
Any artists, designers, etc you think we should know about
Anything else you’d like to share with our audience?
Lookout for my new work and the online store launching end 2010. You can follow me on twitter.com/sarankohli or visit www.sarankohli.com
Also look out for the collection in the upcoming British action flick London Town (working title) directed by Michael De’Sioye, and set for release in summer 2011.
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Have Fun Burners and join Julio on “The Zoo” bus, he will be the resident all week along with DJ W!ld (Circoloco) Alex Picione (Ushuaia, Cadenza) & Mehdi (Amsterdam), all BIRGINS are welcome!
VIDA A Book by Patricia Engel
Patricia Engel was born to Colombian parents,raised in NJ and earned her undergraduate degree in French and art history at NYU and her MFA in creative writing at Florida International University. Her fiction has appeared in The Atlantic, Boston Review, Guernica, Harpur Palate, Nimrod, Slice Magazine, Quarterly West, Sycamore Review, Fourteen Hills, and has received awards including the Boston Review Fiction Prize, a Florida Artist Fellowship in Literature, a Florida Artist Enhancement Grant, scholarships and residencies from Bread Loaf Writer’s Conference, Key West Literary Seminar, Hedgebrook, and the Norman Mailer Writer’s Colony.
Greatest inspirations/influences?
I come from a very creative family where daydreaming was encouraged and artistic expression was part of our daily life. This definitely shaped the way I think of art–that it’s valuable, transformative, and can reveal our deepest truths. My parents raised me to view all of life as a work of art and they continue to be my greatest inspirations. My work is also heavily influenced by film and music and I’ve found creative heroes in Freddie Mercury, Keith Haring, Luc Besson, and Anton Corbijn.
Tell us about Vida.
VIDA follows a Colombian-American girl from the age of fourteen to about thirty as she tries to reconcile her bicultural identity through her relationships with her family, friends, lovers, and society, forming her personal philosophies, deciding what she will accept and reject as her cultural inheritance, and understanding her own legacy as a child of exile.
Challenges of what you do?
It’s a daily struggle to sustain the solitude required to go inward and create when life often has another agenda, along with saying no to social invitations in order to stay home and write, and the thousands of written pages that get thrown away just to arrive at a few good ones. Writing is my greatest pleasure but it’s also an act of faith and patience.
Favorite novels/authors?
How did growing up in NY affect the person you are today and your work?
I grew up in New Jersey, moved to the city at 18 to attend NYU, then moved to Paris, and returned to NY for a decade before leaving again for Miami, where I live now. My closest friends are still in New York and I consider it home, but I also think you need to leave home in order to understand who you are, what you really from desire life, and what you are capable of.
Favorite spots in NY/ and Miami?
When I’m in New York my friends and I can usually be found at :
In Miami, my favorites are :
What do you have planned next?
I’m working on a novel that’s set in Paris.
Favorite websites/blogs?
I’m disciplined about keeping my internet time to a minimum, but when I am online I always check out NinuNina, BBC News, and I like digging up old Depeche Mode videos on YouTube.
Anything else you’d like to share?
I’ll be doing events in New York and Miami this fall. Check my website for dates!
Exhibition Must See in Istanbul
Istanbul Modern presents the most comprehensive exhibition in Turkey of works by Hussein Chalayan, who is of Turkish Cypriot descent and one of the leading names of contemporary art and fashion.
Presenting fashion as an area for exploration, where concepts find an expression, Chalayan challenges the preconceived notions about the meaning of clothing. Inspired by ideas drawn from disciplines not readily associated with fashion, and motivated by the political, social and economic realities of today, he creates designs that explore his conceptual ideas with a philosophical approach. Besides fashion collections, he makes installations, directs short films and designs costumes for stage.
Curated by Donna Loveday, the İstanbul Modern exhibition is made up of Chalayan’s fashion collections, art and film projects created between the years 1994 and 2009. The exhibition, brought to Turkey by the General-Secretariat of İstanbul Textile and Apparel Exporters’ Associations (İTKİB) in a joint effort with the İstanbul 2010 European Capital of Culture agency, İstanbul Fashion Week 2010 and the İstanbul Fashion Academy (İMA), will remain on view until Oct. 24, so check it out.
Photo Peter Bentham
I want to thank my friend Sherif Khelifa for telling me about this fantastic adventure he is embarking -The Right To Climb - which is an initiative to raise awareness and much needed funding for the intellectually disabled by completing the 7 day climb to the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro, the highest point on the African continent, starting September 12th.
Sherif will join a team of climbers who will pay their own way and help in raising additional funds that will go directly to the Right To Live Association (RTLA) where the money will be used directly in improving the lives of people with mental disability in Egypt.
How are you training for this climb?
Training is geared to physical fitness , endurance training , building ones core, I’d say 2 hours a day at the gym is what im doing, sadly I haven’t had the chance to do a couple of practice climbs on smaller mountains this month to test my fitness. But then again they say that often , super fit individuals those capable of running triathlons and compete in iron man events, don’t make it to the top, whilst the occasional smoker with 2 weeks of training has no problem!
To donate or for more info contact Sherif -skhalifa@keydevelopments.net
http://www.righttolivecairo.org/make.htm
Peter Bentham
Photo Tim Zaragoza
Sarah Sulzberger Perpich has been in the fashion industry for over 13 years as a fashion editor, stylist, writer and consultant. She has written for such publications as WWD, V , The New York Times, Style.com, POP and Diane Pernet’s AShadedViewOnFashion.com. She has also worked with designer Zac Posen and as a personal shopper at both Bloomingdale’s and Henri Bendel.
These experiences and her love of fashion and shopping have led to a full time career as a personal stylist in NY. Firmly believing that fashion is for everyone, Sarah has developed a unique philosophy to help clients dress their best and feel more confident. She believes that a personal stylist is for EveryBody, EveryBudget, EveryLifestyle. Her ability to make fashion fun and easy regardless of age, income or lifestyle has made her one of the most popular stylists today.
Inspirations or influences?
Inspiration: “Fashion for me, is not an illustration but an idea around which to create a scene.” Helmut Newton
I constantly keep my eyes open. Some may think it’s a curse and some may think it’s a blessing, but I only see clothing…not cars, people, or street lights, just clothing – sneakers, hats, jewelry, belts, bags. I see the world through fashion-colored glasses—a purse strap in the arm of a park bench, a man’s tie in a taxi’s beaded seat cover, a designer logo in a block of graffiti on the back of a truck. Also my mentors: Bill Cunningham, Diane Pernet, and Valerie Steele.
Favorite Brand?
Chanel will eternally be my favorite brand and probably is the only exception to my rule of no logos on anything. Nothing is more chic and sophisticated than a classic Chanel handbag, classic tweed jacket, or ballet flats – high quality, supple leather, expensive and timeless.
Favorite Designers?
My favorite designers nail their collection every season. The best designers are magicians and master craftsmen – the best at every facet of the design process. The most inspiring and exciting designers are risk takers and have uniquely strong voices and messages. Some examples are:
Favorite Publications?
I religiously read over 60 different fashion and art magazines in addition to blogs. If I had to narrow the list to my favorites, I would pick:
I read these magazines for work and for play, for the text and the images. They are my own private research library.
Fashion Icons?
My fashion icons are women who dominate, dictate, and demand attention, as well as those who are effortlessly chic and make fashion their own.
I love to see women on the street who have mastered the art of styling, mixing and matching old with new, flea market with department stores, etc.
3 things you can’t live without?
I can’t live without my mother’s original one-of-a-kind charm bracelet, flat shoes, a sunny day in Central Park, and the New York Times style section. Granted this is four and you asked for three but narrowing down is not my strong suit as you can clearly see.
How is Fashion Changing?
As Coco Chanel said, “Fashion is made to become unfashionable.” The best part of fashion is that nothing stays the same. Fashion, at its essence, is about change. Within the context of our current times, though, the two main instigators of change in fashion are the Internet and the economy. The Internet is changing the ways in which we learn about, interact with, and consume fashion-think net-a-porter, giltgroup, facebook, twitter, crowdfunding,, fashion films/videos-showstudioor ASHVOFF, and a new, powerful consumer-customize and curate content.
The recession abolished the era of conspicuous consumption and haute couture and built a new industry of creative collaborations between high and low such as the designer collections for Kmart, Topshop, and H&M. High-end fashion designers and retailers have also been forced to redirect merchandise toward safer, simpler, and more practical staples for a more frugal, function oriented fashion consumer.
Photo Tim Zaragoza
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