RECAP OF THE FIRST DIGITAL ONLY MERCEDES-BENZ FASHION WEEK IN ISTANBUL

The 15^th season of Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Istanbul (MBFWI) which entirely took place on digital platforms between October 12-16, with the endorsement of the Türkiye Promotion Group has ended. MBFWI, where everyone has the privilege to watch the fashion shows from www.mbfwistanbul.com, as if sitting in the front row, reached approximately 26 million impressions worldwide.

The fashion week started on Monday, October 12th with the opening remarks of Gonca Yılmaz Batur, Deputy Minister of Trade-Republic of Turkey,İsmail Gülle, President- Turkish Exporters Assembly and Mustafa Gültepe, President- Istanbul Ready-Made Garment Apparel Exporters’ Association, throughout the week followed by worldwide especially in countries such as Italy, Russia and UK.

The first all-digital MBFWI featured 30 runway shows, and each followed by live talks hosted by Turkish Fashion Industry’s leading names. Live fashion talks with international influencers including Olivia Palermo (IG: 6.4M followers), Leonie Hanne (IG: 2.7M followers), Veronica Ferraro (IG: 1.1M followers), Tamara Kalinic (IG: 902K followers), and Amy Julliette Lefévre (IG: 246K followers) kept the fashion fans worldwide locked to their screens throughout the five-day event.

Within the scope of MBFWI, in addition to the Spring/Summer 2021 collections of the designers, the Autumn/Winter 2020-21 seasons were also included. A season-free platform was provided, bringing together in-season collections with the end consumer and next season designs with fashion professionals.

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Designers
The designers and designer brands that showcased their collections in the 15th season of Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Istanbul included Belma Özdemir, Ceren Ocak, Cihan Nacar, Çiğdem Akın, Emre Erdemoğlu, GokhanYavas – Gökhan Yavaş, Hakaan Yıldırım, Karma – Mehmet Emiroğlu, Engin Ekinci, Seydullah Yılmaz, Kith&Kin- Sena Serra Kefeli, Mercedes-Benz presents Özlem Süer, Mehtap Elaidi, Meltem Özbek, Mert Erkan, MİİN by Kadir Kılıç, Murat Aytulum, Museum Of Fine Clothing – Eda Güngör, Natalie Kolyozyan, Nedo by Nedret Taciroğlu, New Gen (Aycan Hakalmaz, Ezgi Yıldırım, Mehmet Demir, Selina Alp, Süreyya Süleymanoğlu, Tanyeli Erdem), Nihan Peker, Niyazi Erdoğan, Özgür Masur, Özlem Kaya, Raşit Bağzıbağlı, Simay Bülbül, Sudi Etuz – Şansım Adalı, T.A.G.G. – Gökay Gündoğdu, Tuba Ergin, Tuvanam ve Y Plus by Yakup Biçer.

In addition to the experienced names of the fashion industry in the 15th season calendar of Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Istanbul, talented young designers also drew attention. Mehmet Emiroğlu, Seydullah Yılmaz and Engin Ekinci carried their collections to the MBFWI podium within the scope of the mixed runway show, and 6 young designers with the New Gen runway show.

Mercedes-Benz, the title sponsor of the event, which supports a runway show of a designer to present every season, presented Özlem Süer’s Spring/Summer 2021 collection with the name “Mercedes-Benz presents Özlem Süer”, who is celebrating her 30th year in the industry, one of the most experienced names of the Turkish fashion industry. In addition, Ayşe and Ece Ege, the founders of the Dice Kayek brand, whom presented their Spring / Summer 2021 collection with a fashion film during Paris Fashion Week, were among the guests of live talks.

Live Fashion Talks
In addition to the runway shows, which were shot at Galataport Istanbul and Tophane-i Amire Culture and Art Center in August, creative content such as retrospective videos of the designers and backstage stories met with the audience throughout the week. Following the runway shows, a look into new collections, the digitalization in fashion and more were discussed in the live broadcasts held with the designer and their guests at the studio in Fişekhane.

“Behind The Scenes” talk series hosted fashion photographers Emre Doğru and Emre Güven who turned their cameras to MBFWI and shot the collection lookbooks, Murathan Özbek, the director of MBFWI’s 15^th season documentary, and Koray Birand, who directed the MBFWI promo and Burak Sanuk, who undertook the styling of the promo film, shared their experiences with the audience

International Partners
MBFWI signed a partnership with Vogue Runway and Business of Fashion, two leading brands in fashion publishing this season, and for the commercial side of the event a special partnership with JOOR, one of the leading digital wholesale platform on a global scale, has been enacted. The designers had the chance to meet their collections with 200.000 curated buyers from 144 countries via JOOR.

MBFWI With Numbers
Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Istanbul’s supplier sponsor L’Oréal Professionnel made the hair styling for 23 runway shows with over 150 hair dressers using L’Oréal Professionnel products. M.A.C Cosmetics, an official supplier of Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Istanbul, undertook the makeup in 23 runway shows with 13 makeup artists.

Publishing the MBFWI’s daily newspaper “ALEM MBFWI” was launched digitally for the first time this season, ALEM team has reached more than 200.000 readers in total, featuring interviews with designers, fashion news and the most up-to-date information from the event.

A team of approximately 200 people took part in different tasks in both runway show shootings and live broadcasts in Fişekhane, to ensure that the fashion week ran seamlessly. During the runway show and studio shootings, within the scope of the new normalization and health measures, all participants were allowed to enter the area after their temperatures were taken. Before entering the venue each participant filled in the health declaration form. It was mandatory to use a mask. Besides the disinfectant points, all areas were disinfected with disinfection systems before each shooting during the day and at the end of each day. All entries and exits were meticulously controlled in order to limit the number of people in the area.