Hüner in Simone Wrap Top, Stone
Hüner in Simone Wrap Top, Stone
stories no.14
Hüner Aldemir
#cycle
Finding the meaning of life in the slowness of nature and flow, Hüner is the founder of two sustainable brands: ‘’huner’’, which gives a second chance to idle sailing fabrics and evaluates these fabrics in their unique designs for fashion practices based on upcycling, and ‘’ferah’’ which focuses on soluble in nature, handicraft and the continuity of cultural heritage. We had a pleasant conversation with Hüner, who inspired us with her creative approach to waste materials and her conscious attitude in production and design processes, on the “cycle”.
Finding the meaning of life in the slowness of nature and flow, Hüner is the founder of two sustainable brands: ‘’huner’’, which gives a second chance to idle sailing fabrics and evaluates these fabrics in their unique designs for fashion practices based on upcycling, and ‘’ferah’’ which focuses on soluble in nature, handicraft and the continuity of cultural heritage. We had a pleasant conversation with Hüner, who inspired us with her creative approach to waste materials and her conscious attitude in production and design processes, on the “cycle”.
Q. How does it make you feel to see a discarded precious material turn into the hero of a new story by carrying on its previous experiences?
To be honest, it has a bit of an emotional side. The sails are truly magnificent when they are sailing against the wind. Yet, when the fabrics used for sailing reach me, they are far from that state and are wrapped tightly and put in bags. That’s why I really like helping this material ‘’survive’’, albeit in a different form. The perspective of each customer is very valuable to me, but I am extra proud that sailors who have an emotional attachment to this material especially like the designs.
Q. Why do you prefer upcycling? What is the main motivation behind your upcycling attitude?
Although huner started its life with sails, it is basically an upcycle brand. The biggest reason behind this is that there are already too many raw materials in the world. It is unnecessary to produce raw materials from scratch to produce what we dream of. There is no need for raw material production, especially in a country like Turkey that has a serious amount of textile production. That’s why we choose our raw materials from materials that can be recycled. We try to choose other materials we use from deadstock or end-of-series materials as much as possible.
Q. How did you decide on the material to use?
Actually, I can say that the sailing found me. The journey has been started with my participation in the exhibition team of the installation to be presented at the Pavilion of the Turkey of 2016 Venice Architecture Biennale. Considering the maritime and upcycling themes of the installation, which was created with materials in an inert position collected from the Golden Horn Shipyard (Haliç Tersanesi, in Turkish), I decided to make the bag intended for the promotion of the exhibition from used sailing materials. Subsequently, nearly a year of development after the exhibition opening, huner’s current collection was born.
Q. What are the most challenging things for you in the upcycling process?
Upcycling has certain challenges, but I prefer to look at these challenges as surmountable obstacles rather than as deterrents. For example, since we do not use a regular material, we cannot give the cutting stage to any atelier and we cut each piece one by one in the studio. Again, due to the material, since each product is unique, it is not possible to work with the textile conveyor belt system during the production phase and all of them have to be sewn one by one. This is a factor that affects the cost as well as being difficult. When a colour runs out in the deadstock materials we use, we often cannot re-supply it. This may sound challenging, but at the end of the day, I think it’s worth the effort.
Interviewed and translated by Deniz Saygı
Q. How does it make you feel to see a discarded precious material turn into the hero of a new story by carrying on its previous experiences?
To be honest, it has a bit of an emotional side. The sails are truly magnificent when they are sailing against the wind. Yet, when the fabrics used for sailing reach me, they are far from that state and are wrapped tightly and put in bags. That’s why I really like helping this material ‘’survive’’, albeit in a different form. The perspective of each customer is very valuable to me, but I am extra proud that sailors who have an emotional attachment to this material especially like the designs.
Q. Why do you prefer upcycling? What is the main motivation behind your upcycling attitude?
Although huner started its life with sails, it is basically an upcycle brand. The biggest reason behind this is that there are already too many raw materials in the world. It is unnecessary to produce raw materials from scratch to produce what we dream of. There is no need for raw material production, especially in a country like Turkey that has a serious amount of textile production. That’s why we choose our raw materials from materials that can be recycled. We try to choose other materials we use from deadstock or end-of-series materials as much as possible.
Q. How did you decide on the material to use?
Actually, I can say that the sailing found me. The journey has been started with my participation in the exhibition team of the installation to be presented at the Pavilion of the Turkey of 2016 Venice Architecture Biennale. Considering the maritime and upcycling themes of the installation, which was created with materials in an inert position collected from the Golden Horn Shipyard (Haliç Tersanesi, in Turkish), I decided to make the bag intended for the promotion of the exhibition from used sailing materials. Subsequently, nearly a year of development after the exhibition opening, huner’s current collection was born.
Q. What are the most challenging things for you in the upcycling process?
Upcycling has certain challenges, but I prefer to look at these challenges as surmountable obstacles rather than as deterrents. For example, since we do not use a regular material, we cannot give the cutting stage to any atelier and we cut each piece one by one in the studio. Again, due to the material, since each product is unique, it is not possible to work with the textile conveyor belt system during the production phase and all of them have to be sewn one by one. This is a factor that affects the cost as well as being difficult. When a colour runs out in the deadstock materials we use, we often cannot re-supply it. This may sound challenging, but at the end of the day, I think it’s worth the effort.
Interviewed and translated by Deniz Saygı