A few months ago, I’ve been contacted by a brand from San Francisco. They wanted to introduce themselves to me and also to my readers. I’m glad they did because I liked discovering their style and heritage. Harput’s Own, was found thirty years ago. The artistic ideas behind the brand comes from its Turkish designer Ahmet Harput, who was born in Ankara just like me! We did a small interview for you to get to know the designer and I hope you get all your questions answered! They were so kind to sent me 2 of their amazing designs that I feel lucky to have. That’s why I made an exception for them and wanted to show you the designs on myself. So here is the story of Ahmet Harput and his brand Harput’s Own.
Bir ka癟 ay 繹nce San Francisco’dan bir marka bana e-mail yoluyla ulat覺. Kendilerini hem bana hem de okuyucular覺ma tan覺tmak istediklerini belirtmeleriyle tan覺m覺 olduk. imdi iyi ki de ulam覺lar diyorum, 癟羹nk羹 tarzlar覺n覺 ve k繹klerini kefetmek benim i癟in 癟ok keyifli bir s羹re癟 oldu. Harput’s Own isimli marka 30 y覺l 繹nce kurulmu. Tasar覺mlar覺n arkas覺ndaki artistik fikirlerin sahibi, markan覺n kurucusu ve tasar覺mc覺s覺 ise Ahmet Harput. O da t覺pk覺 benim gibi Ankara doumlu :) Onu daha iyi tan覺man覺z i癟in kendisine bir ka癟 soru sordum ve umar覺m sizin de akl覺n覺zdaki t羹m sorular覺 cevaplatabilmiimdir! Harput’s Own, harika tasar覺mlar覺ndan 2 tanesini bana 癟ok b羹y羹k bir incelikle yollayarak kendilerini daha iyi anlamam覺 salad覺. Ben de onlar i癟in bir istisna yaparak 羹r羹nleri kendi 羹zerimde g繹stermek istedim. 襤te Ahmet Harput ve Harput’s Own markas覺n覺n hikayesi.
Hi Ahmet, Can you please tell us about yourself a little bit?
I was born in Ankara. I came to the United States at the age of five with my entire family.
I started college at UC Berkeley as an Art major. I eventually changed into a Business/Computer Programming major. At the time getting a degree in Business seemed like the more practical thing to do. My family has owned a retail business for 33 years called Harputs Adidas
Growing up in the retail business I knew I had an interest in clothing/fashion. I always had an opinion. In 2007 I opened Harputs Market, a luxury multi label boutique. Carrying brands like Yohji Y. Margiela, Stefan Shiehder and Commes des Garcons. The combination of a lifelong retail understanding exposure to the best designers, and running into a master Hong Kong tailor allowed me to become the best in what I do.
Merhaba Ahmet, Bize biraz kendinden bahseder misin?
Ankara’da dodum ve 5 ya覺mda t羹m ailemle birlikte Amerika’ya ta覺nd覺k.
niversite hayat覺ma UC Berkeley’de Sanat okuyarak balad覺m ancak daha sonra 襤letme/Bilgisayar Programc覺l覺覺 b繹l羹m羹ne ge癟i yapt覺m. O d繹nemlerde 襤letme okumak daha kullan覺l覺 gelmiti. Ailemin 33 y覺ld覺r “Harput’s Adidas” isimli bir maazas覺 var. Maazac覺l覺覺n i癟inde b羹y羹m羹 birisi olarak her zaman giyim ve modaya kar覺 bir ilgim olduunu biliyordum. Her zaman bir fikrim vard覺. 2007 y覺l覺nda Harputs Market ad覺nda, l羹ks markalara yer veren bir butik a癟t覺m. Yohji Y., Margiela, Stefan Shiehder ve Commes des Garcons gibi markalar覺 sat覺yorduk. Hayat覺m boyunca maazac覺l覺覺n i癟inde olup en iyi tasar覺mc覺lar覺 anlama kabiliyetim ve usta bir Hong Kong’lu terziye rastlam覺 olmam yapt覺覺m ite en iyisi olmama yard覺mc覺 oldu.
What’s the story behind your parents moving to America?
We moved here as a family in 1976. At the time my uncle was working for the U.S Government, which gave our entire family the opportunity to move to America and live the American dream.
Ailenin Amerika’ya ta覺nmas覺n覺n ard覺ndaki hikaye nedir peki?
Ailecek buraya 1976 y覺l覺nda ta覺nd覺k. O zamanlar amcam Amerika Birleik Devletleri H羹k羹metinde 癟al覺覺yordu, bu da t羹m aileye Amerika’ya ta覺n覺p Amerikan r羹yas覺n覺 yaama f覺rsat覺 verdi.
How did you start providing for brands like Margiela, Yohji Yamamoto and Commes des Garcons?
Being one of the best Adidas shops in the world, we were given an opportunity to open a temporary Y3 shop in our store. Being a wild success Yohji Yamamoto asked if we would be interested in selling their main line in store. After carrying Yohji, the following season we decided that the nest obvious step would be to sell Margiela and Commes des Garcons. We also proudly sold many unknown Belgian/European designers like An Sophie Back, and Stephan Schneider
Margiela, Yohji Yamamoto ve Commes des Garcons gibi markalar覺 satmaya nas覺l balad覺n覺z?
D羹nyadaki en iyi Adidas maazalar覺ndan biri olduumuz i癟in, maazan覺n i癟inde ge癟i癟i bir Y3 b繹l羹m羹 a癟mam覺z i癟in bize f覺rsat verildi. Olduk癟a baar覺yla sonu癟lanan bu giriimin ard覺ndan Yohji Yamamoto bize ana markas覺n覺 satmakla ilgilenir miyiz diye sordu. Yohji’nin ard覺ndan gelen sezonda bundan sonraki ad覺m覺n Margiela ve Commes des Garcons’u da maazaya katmak olduuna karar verdik. Ayr覺ca s羹re癟 i癟erisinde pek 癟ok bilinmeyen, An Sophie Back Stephan Schneider gibi Bel癟ikal覺/Avrupal覺 tasar覺mc覺lar覺n da gururla sat覺覺n覺 yapt覺k.
Can you tell us how Harput’s Own collection was born?
In 2008 we bought the factory that included sewing machines from my retiring Master Tailor. We started exploring, and constructed things piece by piece. I like original uncomplicated clothing that can be worn multiple ways. Our process comes from curiosity and experimentation in conjunction with the various influence that inform our work; how each garment ages, how our customers react and what new fabric we find.
Peki Harput’s Own koleksiyonunun nas覺l doduunu anlatabilir misin bize?
2008 y覺l覺nda emekli olan ana terzimin fabrikas覺n覺, i癟indeki diki makinalar覺yla birlikte sat覺n ald覺k. Kefetmeye balad覺k ve her eyi birer birer dikmeye balad覺k. Ben orjinal ve karma覺k olmayan, bir ka癟 farkl覺 ekilde giyilebilen k覺yafetleri seviyorum. S羹recin geliimi, merak覺m覺z ile iimizi etkileyen 癟eitli ilham kaynaklar覺n覺n; her bir kuma覺n nas覺l eskidii, m羹terilerimizin tepkileri ve bulduumuz yeni kumalar覺n birletii deneyler yaparak ilerliyor.
Do your collection only available through web or do you have a shop?
Currently we have our collection available online, in store and at select stores across the U.S. Our main location is in San Francisco, California.
Koleksiyonunuz sadece web 羹zerinden mi sat覺n al覺nabiliyor yoksa bir maazan覺z da var m覺?
u anda koleksiyonumuz hem online olarak, hem kendi maazam覺zda hem de ABD i癟erisindeki se癟ili maazalarda bulunmakta. Ana yerimiz San Francisco, California’da
Who are your favorite designers?
En sevdiin tasar覺mc覺lar kim?
Stephan Schneider and Yohji Yamamoto.
What are your future plans about your brand?
To continue the gooodness
Right now Im having a good time doing what Im doing. We are building our foundation and plan on growing slowly. Slow and steady wins the race ;)
Markan覺zla ilgili gelecekteki planlar覺n覺z nedir peki?
襤yiliin devam etmesi
u anda yapt覺覺m eyden fazlas覺yla zevk al覺yorum. Kendi kurumumuzu kurup yava癟a b羹y羹meyi planl覺yoruz. “Yava ve emin ad覺mlarla ilerleyen yar覺覺 kazan覺r” ;)
What inspires you most when you design your collection?
Each piece inspires another piece. It’s all about the fabric, the texture, the color and drape-ability.
We work on each piece one by one. We continuously update each piece whether its a seasonal fabric or color change.
Koleksiyonu tasarlarken en 癟ok neden ilham al覺yorsun?
Her bir par癟a bir dierinin ilham kayna覺. Her ey kuma, doku, renk ve d繹k羹mle ilgili.
Her bir par癟ay覺 tek tek ele al覺yoruz. Her par癟ay覺 sezonluk kuma ya da renk ile s羹rekli g羹ncelliyoruz.
Hope all you guys have fun reading and learning about Harput’s Own!
Umar覺m hepiniz okurken ve Harput’s Own u kefederken g羹zel vakit ge癟irmisinizdir!
