The Fashion Designer That Dresses The World
-
- 1 April 2020
Drawing attention with his fashion shows from a young age and a High Advisory Board Member of DTİK (World Turkish Business Council), Atıl Kutoğlu represents Turkey effectively
Atıl Kutoğlu… A great adventure in the fashion world starting from a young age, a fashion designer who has climbed the career ladder one by one and now reflects the spirit of Turkey all around the world. Kutoğlu was born in İstanbul in 1968 and graduated from Deutsche Schule Istanbul. He exhibited his designs at fashion shows even in his high school years in Istanbul, the heart of Turkey, and he was rewarded for his efforts by doing internships at important fashion houses such as Vakko and Beymen. Then he went to Austria’s capital Vienna to continue his education. The fashion designer exhibited his first collection in the city with a grant from Mayor Dr Helmut Zilk, and was soon discovered by the Mayor’s wife and famous musical star Dagmar Koller.
HE RECEIVED THE BEST FASHION DESIGNER AWARD IN AUSTRIA
Kutoğlu was only 25 when he received the “Best Young Fashion Designer” award at the Munich Fashion Week in 1993. In 1994 he received the award “Best Fashion Designer in Austria” given by “WOOLMARK” International Wool Secretariat and fashion magazine DIVA at a ceremony held in the Vienna City Hall. As the awards came one after the other, the name “Atıl Kutoğlu” was spreading rapidly in the European fashion industry. “The Vienna Fashion Week”, which was organized for the first time in 1997, started with Kutoğlu’s fashion show. Austrian Princess Pilar Goess, well known for her elegance, walked on the runway for Kutoğlu. Kutoğlu soon after designed an exclusive scarf collection for the miniature and calligraphy exhibition “St Petersburg Muraqqas” by Princess Francesca von Habsburg, the wife of the Crown Prince of Austria. By the year 2000, 27 creations of the famous fashion designer were exhibited at the Belvedere Palace Museum in Vienna as a parallel fashionexhibition to the painter Gustav Klimt’s “KLIMT and WOMEN” Millennium Exhibition.
KUTOĞLU’S SIGNATURE IN THE CLOTHES OF WORLD-FAMOUS CELEBRITIES
Kutoğlu began his career in Vienna and by 2014, he was already designing costumes for everyone working at Premiere Vision, the most prestigious fabrics exhibition in the world. He was granted the highest medal of honour for science and arts by the President of Austria in the same year. And in 2015, he exhibited his designs with a splendid fashion show for the Paris Fashion Week at the Residence of the Turkish Embassy in Paris. Atıl Kutoğlu has been presenting his collections for the press and fashion lovers around the world in New York Fashion Week for the last 10 years. As the man who has dressed many world-famous figures including Jessica Alba, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Madonna, Viktor Lazlo, Naomi Campbell, Tamara Ecclestone, Princess Michael of Kent, Princess Ira von Fürstenberg, Austrian Foreign Minister Karin Kneissl, Princess Camilla von Habsburg, Kutoğlu has two stores in central Vienna and his collections are sold in many countries.
TRACES OF TURKISH CULTURE IN DESIGNS
Atıl Kutoğlu describes what affects his designs and patterns as follows: “As I’ve been living abroad for many years, my designs are inspired by Turkey and the Turkish culture. Sometimes it is the pleasure and inspiration I get from a holiday on the Aegean coasts, and sometimes it is Ottoman architecture and art. But I turn them into modest yet striking and modern lines in my collections that can be used by European and American men and women. And also the inspiration that I get from Vienna, the city I love and live in, reflects on my creations.” The Turkish-flagged spring-summer collection of the designer, who was delighted to contribute to his country as a promotional ambassador on international platforms, was exhibited at the New York Fashion Week and it received negative reactions at first but became very popular afterwards. The collection managed to find a place in the media throughout the whole world. Kutoğlu also has advice for the Turkish designers aspiring to find a place in the global platform: “I advise them to think and work on a global scale for everything they do. I don’t think it is enough only to achieve a local success and reputation. Therefore, if your work is praised in international platforms by important fashion authorities, it means you are taking firm steps in your career.
Article Tuğba Bal Bahar