Handan in Simone Maxi Dress
stories no.17
Handan Gümüş Özcan
#womenbehindtheidea
Handan is a designer dedicated to nature and people since the day she founded Handan Loomworks, whose every design she creates is unique and has the same name. We met in Moda, talked about the design process, and had the opportunity to get to know Handan closely.
Handan in Simone Maxi Dress
stories no.17
Handan Gümüş Özcan
#womenbehindtheidea
Handan is a designer dedicated to nature and people since the day she founded Handan Loomworks, whose every design she creates is unique and has the same name. We met in Moda, talked about the design process, and had the opportunity to get to know Handan closely.
1. Can you tell us a little bit about Handan? Do you think you can express and reflect yourself with “Handan Loomworks”?
Handan: We put a lot of thought into describing what we do and how we do it. But I think that the question of “why” and the answers we give to it will shape our path. Handan Loomworks is a unique initiative that emerged as a result of my inability to find logical answers to the question of why I asked about personal and social issues when I turned 28. Although it seems like a romantic home decoration brand, I have to say that there is a political stance behind it. For this reason, I can say these days I am going through the processes in which I can express myself best.
2. What was your journey like to establish Handan Loomworks after graduating from the Department of Economics and working in corporate companies for many years? Why was it important to you to make such a decision?
Handan: In 2011, I had a postgraduate adventure in behavioral economics that included fieldwork on consumption and happiness. At that time, when I gave up on my academic career and dropped out of school, I received an offer that I saw as a very attractive opportunity and started working in marketing, a multi-disciplinary business area that includes design, communication, and management, people and psychology as well. This continued until 2019, that is until Handan Loomworks emerged.
When I look at it today, I can say that I am glad I made such a journey; because I owe all my experience in branding and business management to my previous business life. But when it comes to the question ‘why am I doing it?’, not being able to give myself satisfactory answers at the end of the day paved the way for me to leave corporate life and start my venture. This was a very important decision for me because, for the first time, I would be able to express myself as I am and find solutions to some of the problems that I was worried about.
3. How did you decide on the material to use? Was this process difficult for you? How did you overcome the difficulties?
Handan: While working on the materials I will use, my production method, and the objects I will produce, my priority was to develop a nature and human-oriented way of doing business. For this reason, I recalled my grandmother’s production methods, which I had witnessed in my childhood. I lived for a while when he dyed wool and weaved at the loom for days. And those moments have been my biggest inspiration in bringing my ideas to life. It is impossible for me to describe the excitement I felt at the thought of slowing down and returning to nature.
However, as of today, hand weaving made with root dyed wool – despite its long history in Turkish society – remains in the background as a labor-intensive business line due to the production methods aimed at profit maximization of the capitalist system, cheap synthetic yarns and dyes are in demand and home textiles are the other Marketing it with a fast-fashion culture, as in other areas, reducing the number of weaving craftsmen and madder masters in the villages, like my grandmother.
Therefore, when I started this job, the most challenging part for me was reaching these people who continue to weave. I blended my family’s knowledge of weaving and materials with my new entrepreneurial motivation and started looking for craftsmen who could add soul to my designs on paper. As I work with a technique different from traditional motifs, we created a comfortable production environment by dividing different designs among different weavers after a few months of production experimentation. Today, I work with a team whose salaries are determined entirely by themselves.
4. Could you tell us how you felt when Simone wore the Maxi Dress in three words ?
Handan: Stylish, comfortable and effortless beauty.
1. Can you tell us a little bit about Handan? Do you think you can express and reflect yourself with “Handan Loomworks”?
Handan: We put a lot of thought into describing what we do and how we do it. But I think that the question of “why” and the answers we give to it will shape our path. Handan Loomworks is a unique initiative that emerged as a result of my inability to find logical answers to the question of why I asked about personal and social issues when I turned 28. Although it seems like a romantic home decoration brand, I have to say that there is a political stance behind it. For this reason, I can say these days I am going through the processes in which I can express myself best.
2. What was your journey like to establish Handan Loomworks after graduating from the Department of Economics and working in corporate companies for many years? Why was it important to you to make such a decision?
Handan: In 2011, I had a postgraduate adventure in behavioral economics that included fieldwork on consumption and happiness. At that time, when I gave up on my academic career and dropped out of school, I received an offer that I saw as a very attractive opportunity and started working in marketing, a multi-disciplinary business area that includes design, communication, and management, people and psychology as well. This continued until 2019, that is until Handan Loomworks emerged.
When I look at it today, I can say that I am glad I made such a journey; because I owe all my experience in branding and business management to my previous business life. But when it comes to the question ‘why am I doing it?’, not being able to give myself satisfactory answers at the end of the day paved the way for me to leave corporate life and start my venture. This was a very important decision for me because, for the first time, I would be able to express myself as I am and find solutions to some of the problems that I was worried about.
3. How did you decide on the material to use? Was this process difficult for you? How did you overcome the difficulties?
Handan: While working on the materials I will use, my production method, and the objects I will produce, my priority was to develop a nature and human-oriented way of doing business. For this reason, I recalled my grandmother’s production methods, which I had witnessed in my childhood. I lived for a while when he dyed wool and weaved at the loom for days. And those moments have been my biggest inspiration in bringing my ideas to life. It is impossible for me to describe the excitement I felt at the thought of slowing down and returning to nature.
However, as of today, hand weaving made with root dyed wool – despite its long history in Turkish society – remains in the background as a labor-intensive business line due to the production methods aimed at profit maximization of the capitalist system, cheap synthetic yarns and dyes are in demand and home textiles are the other Marketing it with a fast-fashion culture, as in other areas, reducing the number of weaving craftsmen and madder masters in the villages, like my grandmother.
Therefore, when I started this job, the most challenging part for me was reaching these people who continue to weave. I blended my family’s knowledge of weaving and materials with my new entrepreneurial motivation and started looking for craftsmen who could add soul to my designs on paper. As I work with a technique different from traditional motifs, we created a comfortable production environment by dividing different designs among different weavers after a few months of production experimentation. Today, I work with a team whose salaries are determined entirely by themselves.
4. Could you tell us how you felt when Simone wore the Maxi Dress in three words ?
Handan: Stylish, comfortable and effortless beauty.