Beymen Marks fiftieth Anniversary With Exhibit Celebrating 500 Years of Turkish Luxurious

ISTANBUL — Sitting on the crossroads of Europe and Asia, Turkey has impressed each creation and commerce for hundreds of years. The nation’s prime luxurious trend and way of life division retailer Beymen is celebrating that wealthy heritage throughout its personal 50^th anniversary celebrations, which started final week in Istanbul.

“We determined to do one thing totally different to rejoice our fiftieth anniversary by wanting into the five hundred years of historical past of luxurious in these lands and take that into current day with a worldwide eye,” mentioned Elif Çapçi, chief govt officer of Beymen. “The exhibition is a celebration of Beymen’s 50^th anniversary but in addition a tribute to Istanbul’s centuries-old multicultural heritage.”

The venture took two years of planning with greater than 100 consultants together with collectors, historians and museum curators, in what Çapçi described as “a significant initiative to dig into the historical past of luxurious.”

The result’s a treasure trove of historic silk embroidered caftans relationship again to the 18^th century on show alongside the work of up to date designers impressed by the area’s historical past. “We took the historic Anatolian references and shared them with 50 worldwide manufacturers which we have now collaborated with to design particular items for this anniversary. The manufacturers took inspiration and interpreted with their very own DNA,” mentioned Çapçi.

The exhibition of luxurious clothes, outdated and new, will run till Dec. 15 at Istanbul’s historic 15^th century Tophane-i Amire Tradition and Arts Heart. “That is actually a giant thank-you from Beymen to our clients, to the Turkish public,” added Çapçı.

Pierpaolo Piccioli, artistic director of Valentino, created a Valentino pink, 13-foot lengthy maxi cape and robe with tulip embroidery. “I interpreted my homage to Beymen’s half century as a present and a dialogue. I took one of the best of my Valentino modern and historic state of affairs — volumes, feathers, textures, colour, identification — and adorned it with a Turkish romantic image, the tulips. These two tulips are identical to two lovers chasing one another on the Bosphorus,” he mentioned.

Olivier Rousteing created a particular assortment of Turkish-inspired items for Balmain on show on the exhibition.  “My workforce and I channeled the famend splendor of the best Ottoman artisans, with Turkey’s wealthy heritage mirrored on this capsule’s unbelievable materials, beads, jewels and embroideries,” he mentioned. These gildings, that includes the exact Parisian tailoring, sharp cuts and the volumes for which Balmain is understood, resulted in a show-stopping swimsuit, a middle level of the exhibition.

Turkish sisters Ayse and Ece Ege of Paris-based Cube Kayek mentioned being part of the exhibition was very significant for them. “Being from right here, we have now all the time appreciated the worth of the fingers, of labor finished by fingers. We’ve all the time believed it. I’m always impressed by the heritage of the land.”

Though they didn’t launch of their native Turkey, Beymen was their first shopper. “They bought our complete first assortment of poplin shirts in 1994. They had been our first shopper and we’re nonetheless right here immediately,” mentioned Ece Ege.

Other than the exhibition, the celebration consists of the publication of a guide, “Golden Opulence,” written by Laurence Benaïm and revealed by Assouline, in addition to a forthcoming documentary highlighting the significance and worth of Turkey’s ultural heritage in trend and design.

As Beymen seems to be forward on its 50^th anniversary, Çapçi mentioned the main target is continuous to strengthen its place out there. “The trade is altering rather a lot. We’ve to remain forward of the change, hold inspiring. Beymen stands for a sure lifestyle, high quality, of consideration to element. We’ve all the time been a bridge between Turkey and world trend. We’ve a market share of 40 % in luxurious trend in Turkey. And for greater than 1,000 manufacturers, we symbolize them solely” in Turkey.

Thirty % of the retailer’s enterprise is now on-line, she added, and the goal is to proceed to strengthen that.

The corporate was acquired by Qatar-based Mayhoola for Funding LLC in 2019 and presently operates 20 shops throughout Turkey and one in Cairo. Nevertheless, in response to Çapçi, they don’t seem to be worldwide growth outdoors of the nation. “We’re profitable as a result of we’re very centered.

“Typically when you’ve gotten very heavy points and agenda on the earth, folks might not really feel speaking about luxurious as being as related.  However that is actually intertwined with tradition and historical past. We sense the multifaceted, unifying and enriching energy of trend, artwork, and tradition extra strongly immediately than ever. It’s a supply of large pleasure to know that our nation’s unmatched cultural heritage will proceed to encourage luxurious trend and design world wide,” mentioned Çapçi.

The exhibition, she mentioned, will go to different main trend capitals after Istanbul.