Burc Akyol (Q3978)
Jump to navigation
Jump to search
Burc Akyol is a fashion house from FMD.
| Language | Label | Description | Also known as |
|---|---|---|---|
| English | Burc Akyol |
Burc Akyol is a fashion house from FMD. |
Statements
Thanks to his recent civil union with his longtime love, Burc Akyol has been mulling a new layer of questions about identity. Like how the self disperses into “we” and—like many, partnered or not—whether committing to one path means “becoming trapped in something you love” and realizing you have to give up other things such as, in this designer’s case, a passion for acting or writing.With his fourth outing, Akyol said he wanted to celebrate life’s silver linings, by literally seizing on kinks, rips, and frays and playing them up: the silver-beaded rip over the heart on a khaki sweater is the most obvious example in a collection named Open Heart. The designer described it as “giving flaws something special so they become that much more important to you.”It might also mean focusing on hidden details, known only to the wearer, that can change how a silhouette looks, for example a silky button-down shirt that may be worn the classic way, or buttoned akilter and draped thanks to a secret tab inside. A bustier with a zip detail in front might be worn closed, or open to reveal a contrasting lining. Layering—wearing a body-con black dress over a long shirtdress to create a flared silhouette, or using a blazer to temper the breeziness of jersey—illustrated the tension the designer found between structure and freedom, sexuality and restraint. A series of sleeveless tops included one in actual silver-woven viscose that had a bodysuit strap to keep everything in place. “There’s always the idea of being held, but you can still move,” the designer offered. “It’s all about discovering your own space.”
20 June 2024
Before we even get to the clothes, Burç Akyol’s show notes are the most heartfelt meditation not only on fashion, but on France right now, that anyone has penned in recent memory. That he wrote them himself, in English, is all the more remarkable, given that the designer taught himself how to write and speak in a language not his own by listening to mix tapes like “Best of Love,” featuring the Fugees, Mariah Carey, Whitney Houston, Michael Jackson, and Simon and Garfunkel, and transposing it phonetically on paper. It should be essential reading for anyone who wants to get a handle on French social politics, especially if they want to do it in three minutes or less.Akyol’s fall collection is called Made in Dreux because he grew up in that town west of Paris, the French son of a Turkish tailor coming of age in a place with a royal past and a rough present (in his formative years, the designer noted, it was the third-largest drug hub in the country). Eventually, his path led him to the ateliers of Christian Dior, Balenciaga, and most recently Esteban Cortazar. He won the Fashion Trust Arabia Prize in 2022; last year, he was shortlisted for the LVMH Prize.The designer’s collection is a reflection on how the brutality of an environment and the holding-in of things can decant into emotion expressed through art, performance, music, culture, and, of course, fashion. His second on-calendar show saw him move from the courtyard of his Paris atelier to the top floor of the Institut du Monde Arabe, with a sweeping view of Paris, an apt metaphor if ever there was one.On the runway, the designer offered up “riffraff meets beauty where you find it.” Style as a matter of resourcefulness came in very smart shirting with a twist, a winning gray shift dress cut on the bias, and some fun albeit impractical ideas about embellishments. A fuchsia panel floating from the shoulder of a transparent tee was “a comma in a silhouette”; lace peeking out of a slit-to-there harem pant will likely appeal to the naked dressers out there.“For me, it’s about being as honest as possible with the piece,” the designer said. Regarding his take on minimalism, he added, “you don’t want it to be the lawyer-dress. If it’s self-evident, it means that someone will be able to project themselves on it.” For those who might need help with that, one puffer reprised a Rumi quote: “I know you are tired, but come, this is the way.
”Given that he is tall and willowy, Akyol has always picked things up from the women’s racks, and here he played with genderless ideas like jeans framed in black lines, or jackets with asymmetrical panels. “It’s the wearing that gives it the gender,” he offered. “It’s a new language, and that’s what I love about it. It’s austere, but it’s sexy.” His tailoring chops are evident, and some pieces, like a long silvery white dress in panné velvet, held promise. Backstage, the designer remarked that with this collection he was looking to reclaim a bit of himself. Regarding that lost cedilla that makes his name difficult to pronounce for those unfamiliar with his other native language, Burç is pronounced “Bourtch.” It’s worth remembering.
16 January 2024
For all the sexiness that radiates from Burc Akyol’s designs, he says he is as sensitive to what the wearer might wish to feel as want to project. “Revealing the body is not something aggressive; it’s like, what are you comfortable showing?”This afternoon marked Akyol’s debut on the official Paris Fashion Week calendar. Barely two weeks ago, he was among the nine finalists competing for the LVMH Prize—a double boost of well-earned industry recognition for a designer who launched his namesake label in 2019, not long before the world went on hold.Back then, Akyol invited this reviewer for an informal visit to his home-atelier. Immediately clear was his overt approach to erotism through looks that merged sharp tailoring with sheerness andflou. The body was front and center, but the seduction came from the minimalist construction of the garments and the mystique they signaled. Today, staged in the courtyard where metal palms and an expanse of carpet the color of sand conjured an intimate desert oasis, the combined men’s and women’s collection was consistent to his nascent vision, only more finessed—an impressive leveling up.Akyol continues to develop a design language that speaks to his French-Turkish background, including the structured shoulders inspired by the kepenek, a protective garment worn by shepherds, and the harem pants sliced open down the front. “It’s a very sexy move, tying your own ankles, making it strangle,” he said cheekily of a wraparound feature. Waistlines, conversely, were loosened and slung low to hint at hip bones, while column dresses in shimmery golden knit and liquid-like silver gripped the body all the way down.But then he introduced well-placed wisps and whorls of mousseline that cast his kink in a more sensual light, like a material breeze. A trench with an integrated draped sash was arousing simply by being so masterfully covered up. “There are personal taboos that drive desire, libido. And the more you hold them in, the more they go into what you are making,” he said. “I guess that’s the part where I am more an artist than artisan; I love letting the work reveal the things I fantasize about.”If one feels obliged to point out that fantasies can be highly personal—the clingy, nearly nude knits and body stockings might attract only a select few—Akyol delivered some exciting statement pieces, such as a long coat of impeccably stitched leather panels. As with other looks, it conveyed stature while confirming his savoir-faire.
Most revealing of all (and fueled by mega muses such as Kendall Jenner, Cardi B, and Cate Blanchett) was the sense that his slow-but-steady burn has what it takes to ignite.
20 June 2023