The absence of models, catwalks, front-rows, and street styles are felt very strongly during Fashion Week. Many brands and creative directors would rather choose act-of dressing and storytelling, than product. In fact, habits of brands and consumers changing in both-ways. It's not a one-way trade for sure. Consumer, who becomes conscious and confident, sneaks behind the curtain, forces the brand to tell a story rather than showcasing any hollow product. Brands that have sufficient awareness fulfill audience’s hunger for knowledge and becomes the storyteller.

We are in such a period now that terms such as trend, mass producing, fast fashion and haute couture which have been frequently encountered in fashiom literature for decades are being rewritten. People are now looking for credibility, brands are expected to be transparent, from their tone of voice to their sustainability policies, from their digital identity to how they deal with ‘body positivity’, or their thoughts on air pollution, racism, or sexism. Consumer wants a true life story.

Ece Ege and Ayşe, founder sisters of Dice Kayek, has been asking the same question rapidly during Fashion Week Istanbul: Who Killed Phillippe Stone? A short film written and directed by Marie Schuller. All of the actresses, mid-60’s cinematographic atmosphere, stylish clothes and sensational dialogues are carefully picked. Fashion duo has been making short films since very long time.

“As early as 2013, we were making fashion films to allow us to bring together our designs, architecture, literature and even history through a cinematic gaze” Dice Kayek told to BOF. Underlying the importance of short films, Dice Kayek once reminds that fashion is not just about things that can be worn; it’s about the way you worn them. Architectural proportions, geometric patterns and spirited forms remains true to their essence for past two-decades. Nevertheless, the story always changes.

Fashion Week’s another strong storyteller was Çiğdem Akın for sure. Through intense self-Q&A period, Akın finds the answer to the existential crises as follows: Nobody Knows. Her inner voice says: “We are human beings, sons and daughters of Adam and Eve,at the boundary of existence and absence, in the middle of nothingness and abundance. We awoke to a world where everyone said everything but knew nothing.” The project, which featured a total of 12 models and was led by creative director Onur Hazar and directed by Arif Akdenizli, was carried out in the enchanting atmosphere of the historical Hidiv Pavilion.

With the potential of fashion to influence the masses by new forms of communication, does the new approach that perhaps the designer is planning to present to her audience evoke a reaction? Who knows?

Author: Zeynep Gür