The designs of young people add value to exports

The designs of Hatay university student Kemal Özpınar, who won the first prize in the Futurebase International Competition organized by the Istanbul Textile and Raw Materials Exporters’ Association (ITHIB) last year, are now being offered for sale through a collaboration between İpekyol and Tuvana Büyükçınar. Speaking at the launch event, Ahmet Öksüz, the President of ITHIB, said, “Design creates culture, shapes cultural values, and guides values into the future. In other words, design not only shapes today but also our tomorrow. Kemal Özpınar’s designs confirm this statement perfectly. Design is our future, and young people are our hope. That’s why we, as an industry, always support young designers. We see design as one of the key elements of value-added exports.”

The designs of Kemal Özpınar, who won with his Troublesome Shine designs in the 16th International Fabric Design Competition “Futurebase International,” held by ITHIB last year, are contributing to the economy. His designs were transformed into two separate products, a dress and a skirt-jacket suit, and a total of 24 pieces were created as a collection.

“We will continue to support our future.”

Recalling that they have been organizing the Futuretex competition for 16 years to support young talents and bring them into the industry, Ahmet Öksüz, President of ITHIB, spoke at the launch of Kemal Özpınar’s Troublesome Shine designs. Ahmet Öksüz said, “Design creates culture, shapes cultural values, and guides values into the future. In other words, design not only shapes today but also our tomorrow. Kemal Özpınar’s designs confirm this statement perfectly. As a sector that achieves six times more value-added exports than the general export of Turkey, providing more added value to our country is one of our biggest goals. We can only achieve this through R&D, innovation, and design. Our industry has the capacity and human resources to achieve this. With the support of our Ministry of Trade, we will continue to support and contribute to our talents and our industry.”

“Designs are contributing to the economy.”

Emphasizing that they always prioritize innovation and innovation as the textile sector, Ahmet Öksüz said, “Design is our future, and young people are our hope. That’s why we, as an industry, always support young designers. We see design as one of the key elements of value-added exports. We support our qualified young people working in the field of design. Our fabric design competitions, which we organize under the brand FutureBase International, serve as an inspiration to hundreds of our designers. The biggest winner of this competition is the Turkish textile sector. It is of great importance to bring together valuable projects and designs in a very short time.”

Futurebase International competition coach Tuvana Büyükçınar also said, “Especially fabrics are made from cotton and yarns. We based three designs on each of these and realized them sustainably.”

“It is very valuable for me to be here.”

Young designer Kemal Özpınar said, “This competition changed my life and provided me with the opportunity to meet and work with the giants of the industry. I would like to thank ITHIB and the İpekyol family. Being here is very special and valuable for me, but it was also very challenging because unfortunately, on February 6, I lost my entire family. Right now, my family is not physically here, but I am very sure that they are watching me from somewhere above and are proud of me. But, I would like to thank Ahmet Öksüz, the President of ITHIB, and Fatih Bilici, the Chairman of the Competition Committee, for their unwavering support from the very beginning of the process, Nil Banu Yentür, Filiz Tunca, who guided me, and Tuvana Büyükçınar and the design team who worked with great dedication while creating my designs. Finally, I would like to thank my dear friends and teachers. If these kind hearts had not reached out to me, life would have been much more difficult for me. Thank you all for giving me the opportunity to make my family proud and for giving me back to life.”