Crafting Couture: handmade pieces using local materials

In September 2012 students from the Master Fashion Design each created one haute couture outfit during a workshop in the South of Turkey. Every student developed a unique, elaborate and fully handmade masterpiece using local materials such as raw sheepskin, leather, sheep fur and wool felt. Far removed from the international world of fashion and with complete dedication the students worked on these pieces together with Turkish craftsmen in their local workshops. The designers completed the silhouette with garments made from 100% merino woollen fabrics, thus creating a personal high-end fashionstatement: a perfect showcase for collaboration and a mutual exchange between contemporary design methods and traditional arts and crafts.

This research project is an initiative of the Association for Intercultural Communication & Interdisciplinary Art, sponsored by Dutch DFA (Design Fashion Architecture), The Woolmark Company and organised in cooperation with the Þanlýurfa Traditional Handicrafts Centre.