Here is an article about famous Turkish designer Hakan Yildirim published on New York Times:
Their Feet May Be Stars in Japan
By ERIC WILSON
Paris
Every season, for more than a decade, their numbers have grown. And we are not talking about new designers, but the photographers who stand for hours outside the Paris show sites just to take pictures of the arriving editors and models.
The scene outside the fashion tent in the Tuileries before the Dior show on Friday was especially comical, as one young Japanese woman after another would photograph Carine Roitfeld (who wore what looked like cashmere pajamas under a leopard-print coat after her big 90th anniversary party the night before) and document her outfit on a preprinted card that showed a woman’s silhouette, with spaces designated for “dress,” “coat,” “bag” and “shoes.”
“We mostly want models,” said Kimi Mori, who works for a Japanese street-style magazine called Spur, before Stella McCartney’s show on Monday. She had focused her lens on an unfamiliar face because she liked that the woman was already wearing the new maxi-length skirt that designers are promoting for spring.
Some editors have discovered they are becoming famous in Asia because of such publications, or at least their feet are, since many photographers only take pictures of their shoes.
“Japanese style is not the same as the style in Europe,” said Manabu Matsunaga, who sends about 100 photographs to Figaro Japan each season. “But maybe the Japanese want to wear more European styles.”
And just who, among the European editors, is most sought after by the Japanese?
“Emmanuelle Alt,” said Mr. Matsunaga’s colleague, Shoko Sakai, of the fashion director of French Vogue. “She’s so cute!”
At 39, He’s a Phenom
Buzz is a mysterious thing. Only a season ago, editors who were in the know could be overheard asking one another if they had seen the collection of that new Brazilian prodigy who had been taken on by the public relations powerhouse KCD at the then-ripe age of 19. This week, the whisper campaign was centered on a Turkish designer who lives part time in London and is 39.
What is it that makes everyone in fashion suddenly stand up and pay attention and clamor for tickets to a designer they had never heard of before?
“Sometimes I think I don’t understand this whole thing at all, because it happened so fast,” said Hakan Yildirim, this season’s breakout star, during a meeting at the Hôtel Costes the day after showing his Hakaan collection. (An extra “a” in his label was added for effect.) Naomi Campbell, Eva Herzigova and Ms. Roitfeld attended his show; Mariacarla Boscono and Karolina Kurkova walked in it. Leonardo DiCaprio turned up at his after-party, smoking a cigar.
Mr. Yildirim is an established designer in Turkey, where he has worked for more than 15 years and has a signature collection founded in 2002. But he made the leap to the international stage only a year ago, after an introduction to the photographer Mert Alas led to the idea of a new label, for which Mr. Alas consults as a creative director. After showing in London last season, Mr. Yildirim received an emerging designer award from Andam (the French equivalent of the Council of Fashion Designers of America), enabling him to show in Paris. What he delivered was a collection of strong minimalist looks, in papery shades of white on fabrics that were textured with ridges or cutouts, some over visible bras that looked like Frank Gehry architecture.
Backstage, Mr. Yildirim was overwhelmed by the response, including from editors he knew previously only by their photographs. “I was face to face and cheek to cheek with Grace Coddington,” he said. He wore a polo shirt with a gold safety pin attached to the sleeve. It bore a charm to ward off the evil eye.
“I know I have to work very hard,” he said. “I need to be more creative. After a while, people will be bored by this, so I must continue with surprises.”
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