In life there are optimists and then there’s Burç Akyol, whose ability to see sunshine on a muggy day when it’s drizzling (which it was during his show on Tuesday evening), is a rare quality.
He made it to the finals of this year’s LVMH Prize for Young Designers, but didn’t take home the big win. Last year his application for a spot on the Paris Fashion Week women’s calendar was rejected.
But the French-born Turkish designer refused to lose faith and instead forged ahead, securing a place on the city’s spring 2024 menswear calendar.
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On Tuesday evening in a drizzly, open-air courtyard in Paris, he showcased his many draping, cutting and sewing talents with a unisex collection that had a whiff of — in his own words — “Oriental tragedy, which I have always found sexy.”
Tragic? Not really. Dramatic? Definitely.
Akyol decked his men and women in sheer knits, mousseline fabrics and curve-hugging shapes and sent them down a runway that was meant to mimic a desert with a sand colored carpet and gold metallic palms dotted between the guests’ benches.
He called it “Palm Gardens,” and it had an East-meets-West richness full of tailoring and draping, skills he forged at fashion school in Paris, and later at Christian Dior, Balenciaga and Esteban Cortázar.
Highlights included a trench with an elegant wrap front, and luxurious folds of olive fabric spilling from the high waist of skinny, black flared trousers.
Sheer black, floor-length capes billowed behind bare shoulders, while long, dark veils were held in place by visors, adding a sporty edge to a Biblical silhouette.
Slinky, one-shoulder knits and lacy curve-hugging bodysuits and long, sheer dresses suited everyone. They were sensual, modern and infused with the spirit of a designer who is not so much seizing life by the throat as giving it a passionate hug.