Swide Magazine by Dolce&Gabbana

The coming together of the first issue probably is the most exciting moment in a magazine's life; and so this March 2010 Vogue Türkiye was born and everything from cover (so pleasantly bare) to editorials was a proper delight.

 

Cover star Jessica Stam is shot by Patrick Demarchelier.

Exciting times for Vogueistas! A new one has landed, joining the existing 17 editions of the Annas, Carines and Francas of this world. Meet Vogue Türkiye, a newborn who debuted on the fashion monthly scene only a few weeks ago.

On first impact... well it might just be a case of love at first sight! The cover is everything some of the world's leading titles are not: devoid of the superfluous, pleasant to the eye. A bold and strong statement with the tiniest flash of bright colour; Stam heaven.

Seda Domaniç is Editor-in-Chief, British stylist Mary Fellowes Fashion Director, while uber-stylish former model and notorious fashionista Ece Sükan is Editor-at-Large (Turkish Vogue's very own Anna Dello Russo? The woman's certainly got swagger!). 

Are we to expect a showdown between Ece and Anna? We can already predict lots of fur will be fliyng...

First of all it has stylish friends in all the right places. Signing the "Congratulations on the New Born" card were the world's most prominent designers, all of them.

Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana (hi Sicilian lady!), Miuccia Prada, Christian Louboutin...

... And isn't the Rochas girl just darling?

There is also a refreshing mix of old and new faces. Turkish fashion is definitely rather underrated abroad; in showcasing some of its most promising talents alongside established but fairly anyonymous names, Vogue becomes the spokesperson for a pool of talent to which access was sometines tricky in the past.

Yildirim Mayruk and Dilek Hanif (who shows in Paris during Couture week) are two of the spotlighted seasoned Turkish designers.

In the next few pages however a comprehensive feature on the lesser known Istanbul Fashion Week and the ones to watch. We shall do (watching being pretty much the only option to those who do not read Turkish... well we tried!).

A leather-bound fall 2010 then as far as Turkish fashion is concerned!

While it flies the flag for Turkish fashion as one would hope and expect, the usual suspects are still heavily featured as they should be in any major player of the fashion publishing league.

Some of the editorials are classic Vogue, classy and uncomplicated, letting the clothes do all the talking.

Everyone's invited too, from Viktor & Rolf to Dolce & Gabbana.

One of its major strengths and part of the wow factor however is the artful mix of some of the traditional Turkish aesthetics and the clashing, more Western point of view of the clothing.

Jessica Stam's editorial, shot by Demarchelier, is a visual delight, what with a neutral palette that ranges from faded Turkish tapestty to futuristic metallic garments (here by Lanvin).

Vogue Turkey speaks the voice of Istanbul perhaps more so than that of the country; however Turkey and to an extent Istanbul itself remain trapped in this contrasting view of modern European urbanite lifestyle and Islamic traditions. And while there is a definite encouter (rather than a clash) of civilizations in those fashion pages, what comes out is the impression of a strong, bold and downright sexy woman miles away from the idea of repressed femininity often used as a reason why Turkey doesn't belong in Europe and the EU.

Underwear as outerwear...

... and downright toplessness. Hello boobs! (Such an unusual beauty shot, is it not?)

Could there be a better ending than the beautiful people pages? While most of these faces may be fresh (which is, well, refreshing!), our gossipy curiosity makes us hungry for more.

Istanbul sure lives up to its reputation - oh isn't that Ece in the black and white stripes? That is two of our Turkish stereotypes confirmed: Turkey has got style in buckets and boy do they know how to throw a party!

 

The journey doesn't end here as Vogue Türkiye is brimming with content that is as indecipherable as it looks promising. Click this way!

 

Source and credits: Vogue Türkiye

TAGS: vogue türkiye ece sukan turkish vogue vogue turkey fashion magazine debut first issue launch istanbul istanbul street style turkish fashion turkish designers istanbul fashion week dolce&gabbana jessica stam patrick demarchelier