Mercedes-benz Fashion Week Istanbul
Perpetually ironed shirts, 5 foot-forever models, makeup crews with bags containing color bursts, the sound of heels clicking tirelessly on pavement, racks of clothing being transported from vans into backstage areas, first-timers and seasoned designers doing last-minute adjustments… Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Istanbul is just around the corner.
“It was de rigeur for designers to update their characteristic touches to create a following that can transcend the local belief of “I’d rather pay that much money for a foreign brand than for a Turkish designer.”
Yes, it is true that Istanbul Fashion Week at times celebrates items we don’t need but (questionably) want in life; like shoes made up of pompoms, trails that are 5 meters long, menswear that are uncertainly more appropriate for women. But fashion itself is about praising taste, and talent, and art, and design, and lines, and colors; and not so much about “real life” issues such as politics, and war, and poverty, and hunger. And let’s be honest; nowadays, don’t we all need distractions from all that is bringing us down?
Running the risk of sounding incredibly cliché, for a city that has so much potential to grow in a sartorial sense, Istanbul has somehow deprived itself of being stylish. It was de rigeur for designers to update their characteristic touches to create a following that can transcend the local belief of “I’d rather pay that much money for a foreign brand than for a Turkish designer.” That, as we all know, is a hard barrier to run through. However we can observe the gradual change in the fashion scene which is becoming a reason to applaud creativity.
So now what? We would like to spotlight a few things; yes, Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Istanbul does not save lives. Yes, there are bigger issues at hand. But most locals have taken upon being anti-fashion week so strongly that the beauty of it all got lost in translation. Enjoying those few minutes on the runway where you get to see emerging names that have so much to say, embroidered gowns that are as impressive as looking at art pieces and a team that puts in an endless effort to divert the onlookers’ minds from disputes to fashion, is a choice. Looking down on this organization, criticizing it, and bringing more negativity to your and others’ lifestyle is also a choice. Which one will you choose this time?