ISTANBUL — One has the confidence of the old-timer, the other, the swagger of a challenger. Two fairs and two different visions — Istanbul’s fashion pulse quickened last month with a head-to-head that has threatened to shake up the industry ahead of the complete lifting of trade restrictions in 2008.
But the scheduling of the two rival fairs — the Istanbul Ready-to-Wear Fair (IF) at TUYAP’s facilities and the Istanbul Moda Show at CNR’s exhibition halls — has frustrated many brands.
“My costs doubled because of the split,” said Volkan Atik, owner of the five-year-old Avva label, which was one of the few to feature prominently in both camps. “I will see which one is more worth my while and then just pick one next time….Everyone should support shows in Istanbul, as this is where we can show ourselves to our best advantage, but this power struggle makes it difficult.”
First to enter the ring in the battle of the exhibitions was IF, run by the IF Council, made up of various textile associations, at TUYAP’s exhibition center in the outlying Istanbul district of Beylikduzu. This was the seventh edition and first winter showing for the fair, which has just gone biannual. IF Council chairman Cengiz Say was bullish about the prospects, insisting the show was going from strength to strength.
The show’s February edition was smaller than the August one, however, with many well-known brands, including the Zara-like Koton, absent and large areas of hall space shut off. The new jeans section from last summer had disappeared, as jeans association Denimder had pinned its colors to the Moda Show. Say insisted, though, that the winter show is bound to be less well attended than the more popular summer edition.
The youth label Avva was in one of the most visible places, where in past shows Suleyman Orakcioglu’s Damat-Tween brands had been displayed. Orakcioglu, a leading figure in the Istanbul Textile and Apparel Exporter’s Association, known as ITKIB, was a key player in the creation of the upstart Istanbul Moda Show. He claimed that IF, which ITKIB supported until last year, did not attract the right kind of visitors — too many from the Middle East and too few from Europe — and had a much more provincial outlook. Say’s only comment on Orakcioglu’s criticisms was that it is for those who desert the ship to make the explanations.
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Exhibitors initially expressed loyalty to IF, but some, when prodded, displayed anger at what they saw as a fight between Say and Orakcioglu. Serhat Bildik of Izmir-based lingerie-focused brand Cicikom, a leading Turkish nightwear company and a collaborator with Zara, also had considered not participating in IF, but then thought his label could be more prominent with the departure of so many other exhibitors.
“I’m clutching at straws, really,” Bildik said. “I chose this fair because the other doesn’t have a separate underwear section. Whatever you do, you will get the situation where a customer chooses just one fair and then says to you, ‘Oh, I didn’t see you there,’ if it happens to be the other one.”
Sebahat Yildiz of Sile Bezi Tekstil, which works with traditional cheesecloth and is a relative newcomer to the exhibition scene, was also ruffled: “We had some good orders last time — now it’s much worse. If things don’t pick up, I won’t bother at all next time,” she said on the second day of the fair. Her disappointment was all the more acute because the brand had doubled production since the last fair in August and created two new labels — the smart Shile, which included strappy summer tops and loose cream and black tunics with beading details, and the sporty Sle, with collarless shirts and V-neck T-shirts among its offerings.
The IF fair did have the fervent support of designer Evrim Timur, though, whose conceptual catwalk show about the plight of a Masai slave girl who becomes the lady of the French court was shown live on Turkey’s Fashion TV and was judged to be the success of the event. “There is a very unnecessary debate going on at the moment — they are not pitting like against like,” Timur said of the rival exhibitions. “The IF fairs are run with great professionalism and in the past few years, they have brought a much-needed rhythm and discipline to the Turkish fashion industry, and for that, they should be greatly appreciated.”
There is a similar attitude at the Istanbul Moda Show, which won’t brook comparison with IF: “There is nothing that could be compared to ITKIB in Turkey,” said Orakcioglu. “We don’t put our name to anything run-of-the-mill.”
The Istanbul Moda Show certainly had more pomp. The festivities started with a party at Istanbul’s historic Sirkeci train station, which included 23 designers (London-based Hussein Chalayan and Bora Aksu among them) who stepped off a train to be greeted by Trade Minister Kursad Tuzmen. The events continued with fashion shows and parties throughout the three days of the fair.
The exhibition was opened with speeches from Tuzmen (who warned of the need to shape up for competition when an extension in tariffs on China ends in 2008) and Italian trade attaché Robert Luongo, among others. It also had major brands showing, such as Koton, Fabrika, Ipekyol, Rodi Jeans and Bilsar Tekstil, which manages, manufactures and markets a wide range of names, including ck Calvin Klein dress shirts, Beymen Business and its own white shirt label, Bil’s.
“This fair has more powerful backing and it shows,” said Ugur Ayaydin, board member of women’s wear label Ipekyol. “The other fair has become more of a showcase for new brands.”
Moda also boasted a list of visiting representatives from international brands, such as Tacchini, House of Fraser and Armani, and multiple foreign buyers. But the show did not always inspire unequivocal enthusiasm: “It’s OK — not that fantastic,” said Faith Agugu, director of the Australian Raw Fashion Agency. “Turks are great manufacturers, and some of their casual labels are good, but the other stuff…it’s not quite there yet.”
She particularly liked Zen Zen, a natural fiber youth label whose packed stand was a riot of color and styles, from brown HotPants to colorful men’s shirts likely to attract the young surfer crowd.
The established but expanding Zen Zen, while pleased with the interest, said it was not yet ready to sell abroad — in fact, it was not really planning to appear at a fair, said general manager Turabi Yucel, only the organizers had been persistent and the company decided to show in a spirit of solidarity.
Bilsar, which is more used to exhibiting at fairs such as Bread & Butter Berlin and Pitti Uomo in Florence, also was enticed by the need to show solidarity with the Turkish industry. But chief executive Selman Bilal is now wondering whether to bother next time. “We came with the hope that there would be a new direction at CNR, but so far, we haven’t been satisfied,” he said. “They have a great vision and good ideas, but they haven’t really been able to put it into practise yet.”
Moda Show insiders admitted the first installment was always expected to have teething problems, one reason why they are treating this as a soft opening and saving the fanfare for the summer session in July.
Whatever they think of the respective merits of Moda and IF, exhibitors at the shows generally agreed on one point: This town isn’t big enough for both of them.
Bilal of Bilsar, however, thinks it is more than just a simple matter of who comes out on top. The whole fair industry needs a bit of a shake-up, he said. The shows should be more specific as to their target market — Moda Show does not know whether it wants to appeal to the domestic market, to Russia or to Europe, and he said the same goes for IF. They should not all be displaying summer 2006, he added, which already has been bought by many stores, and there should be either a grouping along the lines of quality and outlook or a serious elimination of the firms on display.
“When we want to take part in a show abroad, we have to apply and be selected through a rigorous process,” said Bilal. “The problem here, and no doubt at IF, too, is that the whole affair has too much of the air of a free-for-all.”