The Bite Magazine - Autumn/Winter 2023 - Issue 34

bitedesignerprofile His deftness of touch and craftsmanship investment draw on his Turkish roots, giving his collection a unique demi-couture quality. “My grandmother and aunt were constantly working on creating something beautiful, and I try to bring this handcrafted approach into my design identity, to make the designs unique and keep the craftwork relevant to fashion today.” Bora's designs represent a distinctive and unique voice that remains unparalleled in the industry. The designer’s mother, a doctor, may have influenced her son’s fashion destination with the outfits she made when the market didn’t satisfy her needs. “When I look through our family albums, I could see how stylish my mum was and realised as I was growing up, my initial ideas for fashion came through her.” His fashion pro- fessor, Louise Wilson, also inspired him while studying for his master’s degree at Central Saint Martins. “She pushed me to express my design identity and find my true self.” After graduating with a BA and an MA in Fashion De- sign, Bora established his brand in 2002 and had his graduation collection purchased by Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana. The designer’s singular approach to occasion wear and his show named ‘one of the top five’ by The Guardian afforded him NEWGEN funding for eight consecutive seasons and a fixture on London Fashion Week’s calendar for the past 14 years. In 2012, he joined the WGSN (Worth Global Style Network) Fashion Awards judging panel. Since his initial showing at London Fashion Week, Bora has delivered memorable collections, including his lat- est offerings. For AW12, he launched his first handbag collection in collaboration with Bracher Emden, a lux- ury handbag brand for fearless women who declare defiance and independence, released exclusively for Harrods. In aubergine, butter yellow, pale grey, taupe, ink black, forest green and coral red, the tote and clutch made from soft leather were decorated in a signature Aksu heart motif. Queen Victoria’s granddaughter, Marie, the last queen of Romania and wife of King Ferdinand I, inspired the designer in his SS13 collection. Her style, charisma and “the love she had for her botanical garden in Bal- chik” were demonstrated in intricate printed floral shift dresses in pastel colours of yellows, blues, purples and rich hues of red and maroon. The headwear worn by the models added a touch of royalty to the collection theme. The designer centred his AW14 collection on the let- ters his mother wrote as a teenager at boarding school. “The uniformity of boarding school at a time when we develop as individuals the most was interesting. We all experience it, conformity against will.” Bora created a series of beautifully romantic looks with daring de- fiance through these accounts. The models walked in high-collared shirts and blouses paired with A-line or LFW SS18 LFW AW18 LFW AW18