Interview: Behind the brand, Closh

Over the previous entry below, i talked with  the designers of Closh, Selvin Parunakyan and Serli Keçoğlu, about the current situation of their two-year-old brand. 

 

• You had started your business right before the global economic crisis. Even well-established brands have been severely affected by this turmoil all around the world. And it's known that small businesses have been comparatively more vulnarable, in general. Was that period harmful for you?

We are influenced directly by not the economic crisis itself but its perception in people’s mind.

Because the word, crisis, was so talked about and widespread that at some point, people became hesitant to shop and even they didn't want to go out for a short period of time. 
And then it eased up. Fortunately it was not so destructive for us.

• Do you take the latest trends into consider while you are designing? Or do you just go your own way?

Our clothes are mainly inspired by vintage designs. We modernize them as keeping the essence of the original design. Bows, falbalas, corsages, laces and pearls are the main characteristics on our cloths.  

• What’s prior while you are designing: Reflecting the original essence of the design or the expectations of your customers?

Of course, what the customers need for a good living is our first concern. But when we recreate an old-fashioned design, we try to keep its form the same as once it was! For that, we use iron corsets to keep the body tight and in shape and tutus to make the skirts and dresses swollen... 

• What’s the ratio of ready-to-wear to Haute couture in sales?

 It depends. But we can say that ready-to-wear and haute couture sales are almost fifty-fifty. 

• Now, you have partnerships with some of the popular tv series. How did it start?

 The stylists of these series discovered Closh. They said that the style of our cloths suits the characters in the serials they work with. And so our partnerships have improved. We help them choose what’s best for their need!

• How these partnerships have affected your brand? 

Because we live in a culture popularity is appreciated, we are certainly glad about this new brand awareness and perception Boutique Closh has now!

People would like to look like as chic as the personas they watch on the screen; so they, as a general tendency, try to imitate these tv figures and we help them live the life they wish for.

• What will be your next step for Closh? 

 We'd like to launch Closh abroad. But the details are not clear yet.

!! GO BELOW FOR FURTHER READING !! 

Detailed shots in Boutique Closh

Atiye Sok. No:2 Nişantaşı/İSTANBUL

Closh dresses up!

The Partnership, chic women's wear boutique Closh has made with the TV serial, Aşk-ı Memnu has put the brand into a new level, by introducing it to a new and lager audience

    Closh was opened two years ago, in Nişantaşı, by a couple of talented newly-grad fashion designers, Selvin & Serli, with Nerime Ercan and Natali Ohannesyan's great supports.

    I remember the opening night of Closh. It was so fun. Everybody was so excited; the clothes were great, store looked chic and hopes were fresh, high... Everyone expected the best, so did i.

     Whenever and wherever i see a small, independent business blossoms regardless considering of which side of business it belongs to i certainly get excited. 

Because these little stores are like oasises in a market now ruled mainly by chain stores. They are like celebration of individualistic creativity. 

    Nevertheless i had doubts regarding the future of Closh. 

    Okay the location was cool, the designers were really enthusiastic and their designs were made with inspiration. Yet these are not the only components which make a business work properly.

    For that reason what i wondered then was that if they could achieve to survive in this highly competive environment while dealing with fothcoming economic crisis.     

    So whenever i run into Selvin on the street i asked, hoping for the best, that how the store does and she always responded modestly saying "it's oka".

       This month, Closh celebrates its second year!

After the worst time of economic crisis has passed away, the recent news delightfully reveals that Closh has started to make more than oka! 

        The current partnership Closh has made with TV series Aşk-ı Memnu which has quite well ratings both in Turkey and in some Arab countries has been introduced the brand to a larger community and increased its brand awareness.

        In a very short turkish broadcasting history very few TV serial has had such an effect over people with its styling! 

       Thanks to mass media coverage, the style the serial represents has enthusiastic followers, so do the brands behind of that style!  

Prada's first store in İstanbul!

Underconstruction:

the first Prada store will open its doors in Nişantaşı, on December 10!

Prada has long been represented in İstanbul by the luxury department store Beymen, which is known with its loyal customers that place İstanbul among the ten best selling markets of Prada! 

With the opening of its new store, of course the total sales of the brand is expected to increase but what about Beymen's?

This new Prada store is just across the Beymen's flagship store. That's why everybody wonders how will the opening affect the sales in Beymen.

One of the representatives from Beymen clarified that they will no longer sell Prada in their flagship store yet the other stores have no worries about the opening, since the customers come to Beymen because of its private selection of products exclusively made for them 

the second store of Prada in İstanbul has been planned to be opened at İstinye Park Shopping Mall

An Imaginary Brand: HAREM

I imagine a brand which associates with the old hedonistic lifestyle, once arguably lived behind the doors of Ottoman Harem!

Harem pants are among the hottest trends of 2010! It’s sure that we will see more and more orientalist designs for a good few years ahead because of the arab effect!

But It’s not only the design, i think what’s really exciting about Harem, as a concept, refering to the old times, is the feeling of intimacy.

I imagine an İstanbul based, prestigious, ready-to-wear brand, named HAREM which reflects the mystery and prestige of the daily life of Harem, once in Topkapi Palace!

Harem: a sacred place, dedicated only to women

In those old times, the woman of Harem, named ‘cariye’, was chosen and raised to be a member of this obscure club. Once they were accepted into the court, they stepped into a very protected, glamorous and previliged life.
It was so protected that the only man who can enter the doors of Harem was the sultan himself.
Cariyes were served the best of all, in return for serving their best to his majesty. The competition among the cariyes were harsh in order to become Sultan's favorite and give him a son.
*****************************************

Because there is very little known about this confidential life of Harem, it has provoked a orgy-like lifestyle imagination in westerners' mind for centuries.

The brand i imagine is mainly built around this hedonistic perception.

‘The whetted desires’ are gonna be at the core of the brand concept!

It's all about the feeling of luxury, the old mysterious hedonism, and gaining power in a very closed society to be the sultan's favorite!

you may think the last statement is kind of chauvinist, but actually very little has changed since then and today women still have strong desire for gaining power to acquire what they want!

When you think about Ottoman lifestyle you would probably remember old-fashion costumes such as kaftans or harem pants.

Forget them.

For the brand, Harem, not the kind of garments which were used at the court is important. What are emphasized, along with the feeling, are the patterns. These old-time Ottoman patterns can be modernized and used as the reference point!

Also i would like the brand has an instore hammam and host a special 'hot night out!' (details of which left to your imagination!)

Why Vogue not in Arabic ? !

Even if the market in Arabic is mouth watering, Condé Nast has chosen Turkey to launch Vogue instead of the United Arab Emirates. The reasons sound reasonable  

Oka i’m not complaining about it but when i heard about the lunch of Turkish Vogue for the first time, i’d thought: Why on earth Condé Nast chose Turkey instead of an Arabic country such as the United Arab Emirates or Lebanon. Since the increasing Arab effect on western fashion retailing is so serious.

It’s so clear that Arabs are more enthusiastic about the luxury consumption than the Turkish. They have been barely affected by the recession and they already have strong influence on western fashion retailing.

The Arab market is so important that Louis Vuitton has launched its first global store in Dubai Mall. Tom Ford and Jil Sander designed special items for the Gulf countries.

Besides the market expands: It’s lately mentioned that Sheikh Hassan Bin Ali al-Nuaimi from the United Arab Emirates is likely to take over the French fashion house, Christian Lacroix.

Thinking all of these above and very naively seeing only the one side of the business, i made a quick search on google and realized that this discussion has already been out of fashion.

After reading Condé Nast International Chairman Jonathan Newhouse’s press release, below, on 'why Vogue cannot be published in Arabic', one of the most important side of business i forgot hit my face: The values!

      
Here are the reasons why not in Arabic:

“Within the Arab world, or to be more accurate, the Muslim world, there is an element which accepts Western values. There is also a powerful fundamentalist, religious element which rejects Western values,

This element rejects freedom of expression, equality for women and expression of sexuality, to name three values associated with our publication.

And this militant element is capable of aggressive opposition, even violence, to attain its goals. At its most extreme, this militant element is capable of murder.

In Indonesia recently, the editor of the local edition of Playboy was put on trial even though the local edition did not print nude photos.

Our company has no wish to impose its values on a society which does not fully share them. And we do not wish to provoke a strongly negative, even violent reaction. It isn't even worth it for a few million in licensing fees.

The Middle East has plenty of people who would love to read Vogue. But unfortunately they live in the same general region as some of the most militant and violent elements.

The UAE borders Saudi Arabia, home [country] of Bin Laden and most of the September 11 terrorists. And militant elements take offense at any Arabic-language magazine.

This isn't Israel/Palestine, Iraq or Iran. It isn't a thorny problem which has to be solved. It is a problem I don't have to have. So I will simply avoid it by never entering the market. And I will sleep better at night.”

                                                         Jonathan Newhouse

the press release has taken from: http://www.nypost.com/p/news/national/conde_nasty_IasvwQTyblLkQMoraHzx3H#

Vogue in Turkish! Why and How?

The eventual concern is that whether Turkish Vogue will be able to keep customers attracted and have a unique place among the rivals or not

İstanbul oriented turkish media and fashion business are excited about the launch of Vogue in Turkish. The release date is not clear yet but probably in March, 2010, we will see Vogue on the shelves in Turkish.

Why?

The partnership Doğuş Group and Condé Nast made is a brave venture. Since print media is in decline globally, and magazines have never been favoured and sales have never boomed in Turkey. And even though fashion marketing gained some power in recent years, it’s stil at a crawling pace.

Jonathan Newhouse, Chairman of Condé Nast International, says “We are so glad to enter into very dynamic turkish market which has over 70 million people…”

Yes, the total population is over 70 million, but the sales figures regarding magazines are not as exciting. In October, 2009 the number of total circulation, including 87 magazines, was 733,383. The circulation of Elle, the main competitor of Vogue, was 26,753 and the figures of another competitor, Harper’s Bazaar was 6,075.

Do these figures make Condé Nast and Doğuş Group happy? Has Turkish Vogue being planned to be another Elle, Harper’s Bazaar or Marrie Claire? If not; i assume either group have an expansion plan in the market to enhance the figures or have put trust in advertisers.

In recent years İstanbul has welcomed a lot of western fashion brands. Within ten years the brands from the mass market merchandisers Zara, Gap, and Mango, to luxury fashion houses such as Burberry or Marc Jacobs have opened stores. And the fashion retail industry is still growing rapidly.

As expected the main advertisers of the magazine will be the western oriented fashion retailers similar to the advertisements in the western versions of Elle or Harper’s Bazaar. What I’m afraid of is that the power these advertisers may put on editorials, reducing the magazine to another carbon copy of American or British Vogue.

At this point the originality in editorials is vital!

Beacuse, apart from eager fashion students and media workers, who will buy Turkish Vogue? The customers of those newly opened western luxury fashion houses located at İstinye Park Shopping Mall or Nişantaşı would be expected as the main target.

But this main target has no problem reading in English or travelling around the world and buying a copy of American Vogue which represents western brands more glamorously. Why should they buy Vogue in Turkish, when it is a third-world copy of the original one?

The magazine is expected and supposed to have more charecteristics than being translated into turkish.

I can’t wait to see how will they achive this distinction!

The declared fashion director of the magazine is Mary Fellowes, former junior fashion editor of British Vogue and one of the creators of the Intelligent Life of the Economist; the art directors of the magazine are Andrew and Iain Foxall who have a visual design agency in İstanbul named Foxall Associates. And these counterparts have Seda Domaniç as an Editor-in Chief to inform them of what the turkish market needs!

[Seda Domaniç has no previous fashion experience but she has a distinctive CV! She has a degree at International Relationships from Georgetown University, fluency in English, French and Italian along with Turkish, experience in media business, and prior to manning the helm of Vogue, she was the director of business development and foreign relations at the Doğuş Group. She was also the conductor between Condé Nast and Doğuş Group about Vogue.]

So, what does Seda Domaniç have to offer to wealthy turkish customers who are very suspicious about emerging local brands and have a strong tendency to buy well-known western brands.

How will the magazine keep the customers attracted?

Will she give a place on the cover to turkish soap opera celebs who are favoured by the mass but kinda scourned by the elites, to increase the circulation.

Or will the magazine be thick with advertisements and restiricted to only socielites?

And how will this foreign team communicate with local designers, photographers and editors?

As the rumors spread, two fashion photographers, Koray Birand and Nihat Odabaşı, refused to send their portfolios when asked, declaring they are already well-known.

Arrival of Vogue means the improvement in turkish magazine business!

Everyone in İstanbul agrees that Vogue will change the way the turkish magazine business works. The competitors of Vogue, Elle and Harper’s Bazaar, have mostly been produced by small teams and mostly reproduced from their original American or French versions. They say Vogue has higher standards and ambitions.

Vogue tried to enter turkish market in 1994 but the attempt was unsuccessful because it couldnt find a proper partner which was able to satisfy the various demands such as office space or the number of people who should work for the magazine . Right now it seems the conditions have been provided by Doğuş Publishing, also represents National Geographic in Turkey.

If we contemplate about how retail industry emerges and gains power in İstanbul we may say that Turkish Vogue is promising. Previous experiences show that in any country it’s involved Vogue evolves as the local fashion industry expands.

After all –and maybe too early- question is : Will Turkish Vogue be able to have a crown like some of its siblings do? American one is commercial, French one is chic, Italian one is arty and Russian one is supposedly the next one which will get a crown!

We have to wait to see.

Fashionableİstanbul

İstanbul held a fashion show which has no characteristics! The Picture of the event was like this: a bunch of turkish tries to promote western fashion to westerners .

In the search of a place for itself in the 300 billion dolar global fashion industry, this year İstanbul held an international fashion show for the first time, between 23-25 October.
Some prominent european designers cosisting of Roberto Cavalli, Gianfranco Ferré, Salvatore Ferragamo, Vivienne Westwood and Missoni gathered to show thier latest, unrevealed collections – only Roberto Cavalli who had the opening show had an old collection.
Because this is its first year, fashionistanbul only hosted well-known designers with a bunch of un-known-young fashion designers.
The event is meant to insert Turkey in the list of world fashion countries and to make İstanbul the fashion world’s gateway to Middle East and Near East.
Mehmet Celebi, one of the partners of BAYKAM&RBM, the agengy which orginezed the whole event, affirms that with Fashionable Istanbul by Avea, their goal is to position Turkey with its industry and brands as one of the leading fashion capitals in the world. Celebi explained that the emerging markets such as China, Middle East, Far East and Turkey became very important for the foreign investors. Thanks to its geographical position, Turkey will be a bridge which connects Middle East and Near East with Europe and America.

Such a feeling insecurity:

So to get the global publicity, the real point was to make the organization literally ‘international’!! For this reason Baf Rafeli was the face of the event and Bruce Willis was the man! And European designers, you know.

Don’t you have a feeling something missing?
Oh, ‘turkish’!
There was nothing obviously turkish in the event. All western! Designers, models, celebrities…
Shame on me! of course there was. that traditional insecure feeling in turkish marketing which provokes the promoters to call western celebrities to get foreign publicity.
To gather all those already established celebs together may sound cool in some cases but not in a business originality is vital.

The Picture of the event was like this: a bunch of turkish tries to promote western fashion to westerners .
Why should someone associate İstanbul with Vivienne Westwood? Even if they are middle easterners.

All fashion cities around the world have a unique characteristic. If İstanbul is determined to be one of those fashion capitals, it also has to find one!

The organizers told that next year turkish designers are going to start to show their collections. But even if so, with current western inspired turkish designers, it will take some time İstanbul to find its real characteristic.