Introducing Ismail Erbil & his latest collection Urban Nymph
05-03-2008
Q Tell us a bit about your fashion
background…
Ismail: I studied fashion design at
London College of Fashion from 1995 to 1999 and completed my BA Honours in
fashion womenswear at Central Saint Martins in 2002. I soon began working as a
freelance designer and creative pattern cutter. I have only just begun to
establish my product and style so achievements are yet to come. I have
experimented a lot and feel the need to produce now.
Ismail Erbil's Urban Nymph story
Q Fashion is a notoriously difficult
industry to crack – what keeps you focused?
Ismail: What keeps me focused is my
knowledge of other markets in fashion and my ability not to fall into other
fashion areas that don’t really interest me. Once you know your product and
customers this gives you a certain confidence to achieve more. Fashion is a
very competitive and fast industry. I don’t produce trend driven clothes but l
am always in search of unusual textiles especially from my native country Turkey. I believe in my total vision; concepts realised in
the design process.
Urban Nymph
Q Tell us a bit about your latest
collection – Urban Nymph…
Ismail: Urban Nymph is the title of
my recent collection and the inspiration comes from trips made into the
Australian rainforests in 2004. I wanted to see how these experiences could be
adapted towards a more urban city bohemian feel in terms of clothes. It’s about
hard versus soft.
The collection brings together two
methods of working. Free flowing draping and creative fabric manipulation is
juxtaposed with a more structured look of sharp lines, panelling and pattern
cutting. I saw this collection as a colour project to energise my designs. I
experimented with a natural colour palette of greens on the one hand with a
more synthetic sense of colour which includes silver, emerald greens and
fluorescent yellow on the other.
The tension and energy I created
exists in the hybrid patterns and forms that I seek out in the design process
whereby boundaries between elements become blurred; the built environment and
natural structures intertwine giving rise to an urban-nymph sensibility.
Urban Nymph illustrations
Q Do you have a particular female in
mind when designing?
Ismail: The ideal muse I have in
mind when designing is someone who is body conscious, feminine and independent.
I like women who are playful yet mature.
Urban Nymph behind the scenes
Q You created a really striking shoot
for Urban Nymph (featured) with photographer Tony Monckton – how do you guys
know each other and talk us through how you came up with the shoot concept…
Ismail: Thanks! I met Tony through a
fashion stylist and things just developed from there really. I allowed the
clothes to do the talking and didn’t really have to try hard to come up with a
concept for the shoot.
Behind the scenes
Tony Monckton adds: “The shoot had
lots of energy, personally I loved the shoot very much and the team. It seemed
to just flow along very smoothly. Mia was great on the shoot, and she instantly
got into the character 'Urban Nymph'. I loved the last outfit, which featured
white strips on top of a green under garment. It really shows off a woman's
figure.”
I was very excited to meet Mia, the
model, and the team, everyone was very professional.
Behind the scenes with model Mia
Q Will you and Tony be working on future
projects together?
Ismail: I am currently in discussion
with Tony about my new exciting project I am doing for a fine art sculpture
exhibition called Flux in Hackney Wick. I love Tony’s vision of how he captures
beauty in his photography and it would be interesting to see how he might
picture a sculpture that questions the body. It’s not a fashion shoot but
rather a focus on how our bodies take up space.
Q What next for your collection, Jenny
Holloway mentioned the possibility of New York in September?
Ismail: I am developing a small
range of beautiful eveningwear taking elements from the ‘Urban Nymph’
collection and aiming at women who want to wear special clothes with personal
touches. I’m totally excited with the
possibility of taking the ‘Urban Nymph’ collection to New York and meeting interesting people who may want to hire
me as a freelance designer.
Q Would you ever consider developing a
range for another market sector, say menswear for example?
Ismail: Yes, I’d love to do menswear
one day!
Q I hear you also dabble in other areas
of fashion, teaching for example, tells us a bit about that…
Ismail: I teach fashion illustration
and figure drawing in various colleges and feel totally comfortable helping
students who want to learn from me. I have also been back to Central Saint
Martins and London College of Fashion to teach illustration/design at different
levels and this was a very rewarding experience since I was a student myself at
these colleges some time ago! Teaching
pays the bills and I get really excited seeing my students develop and learn
how to draw properly.
Q Are there any designers/artists that
you particularly admire?
Ismail: I admire Andre Courreges for
his vision of future fashion and Pierre Cardin for his couture finishes.
Q What are the best and worst aspects of
working in fashion so far?
Ismail:
The best part of my trade is the freedom clothes allow for expression and constantly
learning through mistakes. The bad bits are the deadlines i.e.: production or
sampling.
Q Fashion faux-pas – what are your style
pet hates?
Ismail: People who overdose on
designer labels and have too many brand names flashing about.
Q Current stockists…
Ismail: Currently I’m building up an
online boutique with FashionCapital and soon will be able to share my creations
with everyone; you could get hold of some very exciting designs from me! I also
stock at Fashion Enter LTD.
Q Ismail quote of the day…
Ismail: “Be yourself and create!”
Company
name: Ismail Erbil,
Address:
Unit B,
First Floor Building No: 2,
92 White Post Lane,
Hackney
Wick,
London E9 5EN
Telephone:
+44 (0)7828 288971
E-mail:
ismailerbil@hotmail.co.uk
Website: Under construction
Images by Tony Monckton
Interview by JoJo Iles
