The Bite Magazine - Spring/Summer 2022 - Issue 31

bitefashion A row of chandeliers lit up one by one in the darkened room at the Hakan Ak- kaya x Cinderella Bridal SS22 show before the first look, a white suit with wide-legged trousers accompanied by a black bowtie, walked the catwalk. Alongside 45 bridal gowns, the 100 exclusive pieces designed by world-renowned fashion designer Hakan Akkaya for Cinderella Brid- al and curated by his namesake Event Organisation at Tersane Istanbul, worn by 35 runway models were elegant, stylish and extravagant. Turkish model Çağla Şikel, who was Miss Turkey 1997, made her mark on the runway with the open- ing look and a one-shoulder micro dress with layered sleeves that extended to the floor. Beauty queen, Miss Colombia 2015, Madelein Lopez Camelo and wife of singer-songwriter Soner Sarikabadayı, made an appearance on the runway for the first time in three years. Nezahat Oyna, Turkey’s oldest model at 75, walked the runway in a black wedding dress with a black rose to signify the message to stop forced child marriages. Another amazing piece worn by Madelein consisted of a floor-length robe with a feather collar that pro- truded around the model’s neck and down the lapels. This apparel was complemented by a pair of flowing trousers. Elegant sequinned gowns with adorned pearls and crystal stones came sauntering down the runway. Some with fishtail hems while others were princess ballgowns with a strapless sweetheart or round-neck bodices, or slim-fitting with layers of lace. A bridal gown with a sweetheart bodice, padded shoulders, and a full skirt gleamed from the begin- ning to the end of its walk down the catwalk. The neck looked like it had layers of glittering necklaces that adorned the lace section over the chest. This was followed by a princess-style lace gown with a v-neck, puffed shoulders and balloon sleeves, over a sweet- heart satin full skirt that sauntered elegantly toward the audience. All of the flowing gowns seemed to float effortlessly as they were walked by the models. With a huge circular hat atop her head, a model in a strapless fishtail gown, with a large lace tail, that hugged her curves, walked sexily down the catwalk and captured the audience’s attention. A slim-fitting halter-neck dress with a long split at the front was accompanied by black gloves and a bow at the back of the gown that added a varied contrast to the look. Black made another appearance in the side pipings and hem of a fishtail dress with spaghetti straps worn with sheer lace gloves. This palette then dominated a plunging round-neck top with a thigh-high split skirt in white lace and a sheer lace top with white wide-legged trousers. The full black look was then walked by Nezahat Oyna be- fore it returned to white with a pop of black lace. If you want to be adventurous, you could always wear a high-neck bodysuit complemented with black tights and a large black and white lacy hat down the aisle - it would certainly make a fashion statement. Cleopatra would have loved the strapless fishtail gown with off-the-shoulder balloon sleeves and a train sweeping the floor whilst sporting a long silver metal- lic headdress. How about a one-shoulder, sweetheart bodysuit with a billowed sleeve and a large floaty hat? It may unsettle those conventional souls who still believe in traditional measures. The finale was a gorgeous red PVC fishtail gown with a layered lacy hem worn by Çağla Şikel that ended the show on a high note. The highlights of the show included the colour pal- ette dominated by whites, blacks and reds, with the dresses enriched with pearls, precious stones, gloves, hats, giant veils and accessories. The bridal gowns were handcrafted by a team of 100 people with 100,000 pearls and 300,000 crystal stones. Al- though the designer would not specify the total cost of the dresses and accessories, he said it was a million-dollar fashion show and was “happy to have done the most magnificent and the most expensive fashion show in Turkey”. Hakan Akkaya studied at Bilkent Uni- versity Architecture Department be- fore he left in the second year to train in fashion design at Istasyon Art Academy. He has been in the fashion industry for the past 20 years, first- ly becoming a department manager at leading fashion companies such as Boyner Holding, Altınyıldız and Sarar. He was the first Turkish designer to attend Who’s Next Paris and Bread & Butter Berlin Fair with his menswear collection in 2012. The designer has appeared at Mercedes- Benz Fashion Week Istanbul with his men and women collections for eight seasons and was also the moderator and jury of the TV shows for six seasons. His designs made from nanotechnology fabrics with the support of ITHIB (Istan- bul Textile and Raw Materi- als Exporters Association) were presented at a press conference at Çırağan Palace. Akkaya is a