English
Local Makers: Natural and Boutique Brands
From jewelry and accessories to plant propagation techniques and natural beauty products, these small brands are doing their best to produce in a sustainable manner and now they came together at a platform called Local Makers. Let us have a closer look at some of them…
Tuğay İlyasoğlu Güven colors hair bands, ribbons, bow ties and scarves with natural dyes extracted from the decaying plants that are at the end of their life-cycles, enabling you to look at natural wastes from a whole new perspective. You will be a fan of “circular fashion” when you find out that 20% of all industrial pollution on earth originates from fabric-dyeing, 2,270 liters of water is used for the production of a single t-shirt, and 60% of the textile products are dumped at the end of the year, according to the World Bank data!
The Japanese potting technique kokedama (moss ball) has been twisted by Sibel Gürcüoğlu with a minimalist design approach, combining plants with the tree-moss collected from the buxus forests of the Black Sea. Did you know that a medium-size plant cleans 25% of toxins in a standard room and allows us to breathe more easily?
Gülçin Özbiçerler has started up a small soap production business after a year spent in the city of Toyota, Japan. Cold-processed natural soaps, shampoos and body butter made with natural ingredients like goat milk, honey, almonds, turmeric and eucalyptus are produced with unique recipes at a small village of Sakarya.
What about wearing one of those Turkish blue evil eye beads in the form an amazing piece of jewelry? Derya Hayırlı makes each piece from bronze, gold or silver with a lost-wax molding technique dating back to 4000 BC that she learned in the Grand Bazaar of Istanbul
Less. is the brand of two architect buddies, Aydeniz Ulufer and Zeynep Çevik, who aim to get rid of disposable plastic through innovative “instruments for sustainable living”. We loved their wraps that could remove the stretch film from our lives completely! These wraps are produced from organic fabric infused with bee-wax, pine-resin and coconut-oil. They can stick with the warmth of your hands and they could be used repeatedly after a wash. Their soap nuts to replace detergents, and their menstrual cups to replace women’s pads are also the precursors of a completely new consumption paradigm.
We loved the geometric approach and color palette of Petek and Gülipek Kızılelma sisters who design their jewelry with sand beads made of glass and natural stones by Miyuki company, established in Hiroshima the World War II.
After spending years in the gastronomy sector, İnci Özay Hatipoğlu started to produce hand-made conical incense due to her fondness for nature, herbs, spices and fragrances. Sage, cedar, myrrh, and frankincense are some of the popular varieties. A surprise awaits those who tap on the brand’s website: İlke Hatipoğlu, who is a musician and the partner of Inci, has created a 48-minute piece of music departing from the vibrations he recorded from the plants with an electrocardiogram-like special device. They share the link with those who send an e-mail from their homepage.
To follow and buy the products of local boutique brands on the Local Makers platform: localmakers.com.tr
Click here to read our interview with Yağmur Çoban, who is the co-founder of Local Makers and The North Fox!
