YILDIRIM MAYRUK

Yıldırım Mayruk

Yildirim Mayruk, the doyen name of the fashion world, stepped into fashion first by making hats during his high school years like all the world-renowned great tailors. We have made an interesting interview about Yıldırım Mayruk, who gives beneficial hints which are kinda bedside information regarding the occupation and sector.

A good costume never gets updated if the material, model, and workmanship is good.
This applies to everything.

Do you remember the day of taking your first step into your profession? Did you start sewing clothes by discovering that you have an inherent tendency towards it?
I started my profession by making a hat with my sister who also was a tailor. If you look at the timeline of fashion, the Great tailors recognized all over the world also started their profession by making hats. For example, a popular ready-to-wear brand became famous with Şen Hat in our homeland. I prepared my first garment for my mother, a daily chanting dress. Producing costumes has nothing to do with the spirit; but with knowledge, experience, etiquette, and creativity. Of course, the material and sewing skills should be counted too.…

Nowadays, many fashion designers and fashioners are able to make a delible impression either through social media or alternative channels. How do you find the present fashion designers and fashioners? Is our future bright in fashion design and textile sector?
The notion of stylist is an adjective derived afterward. I’m a tailor. The person who sells bijouterie is called fashion designer so does a person who mushrooms in social media and shares the rubbish. Surely, I do not approve of this title for myself. What’s important is to make an impression through your costumes, and fashion parade’ collections rather than your name and of course the ladies you dressed up. In Turkey, the number of tailors who can sew suits, coats, etc, unfortunately, is gradually decreasing. Sleeved dressed are replaced by surcoat, abaya, t-shirt, and coats. Turkey has not yet globalized with a quality brand or does not have a famous creator. You can not see many names in fashion encyclopedias other than Rıfat Özbek. Our country is unfortunately and still like a contract carrier. It is now a subsidiary industry that produces for other brands.

‘What does expressions like ‘fashionable’, ‘de-moded’, ‘trendy’ mean to you?
Fashion identifies the present moment and describes the situation in which it exists. If there was such a thing as ‘’out of date’’, the flea market would not become an antique dealer. No auctions would have been made. A good costume never gets updated if the material, model, and workmanship is good. This applies to everything.

Before you prepare an outfit, are you preparing it by looking at the design or the fabric?
It is not the design based on the fabric, but the fabric based on the design. Think like a cooker. Is it possible to transform a pumpkin into a stuffed eggplant? Of course, if the subject matter is costume and fashion, priority should be given to fabric. Neither a thin fabric is likely to make a coat, nor a thick woolen is likely to make a swimsuit.

Can we know your views about the Turkish fabrics? How do you see the current position of the Turkish fabric in the World ?
Unfortunately, the production of natural fiber fabrics in our country is almost over. Like silk, wool, cotton, and linen … We have to export it from abroad..In many key branches such as weaving, printing, knitting and felt, the situation of lack of training and staff has become incomprehensible. It has begun to be understood that the imitation gives no future. Once upon a time, Sümerbank Merinos was recognized as an English fabric in the world. However now, you can produce only pillows, curtains, etc. with the so-called shantung fibers called Indian silk. Polyester is a nondurable fiber and is very harmful to human health.