TURKISH FASHION HISTORY MUSEUM ON ITS WAY
Department of Fashion and Textile Design, Faculty of Fine Arts and Design, Izmir University of Economics (IUE), who has taken Sümerbank fabrics, garments, home textile products, which make up the legacy of industrialization revolution in Turkey under protection, is now keeping a register of traces of Turkish fashion history through the donations from 1920’s to 1990’s.
Following various exhibitions held by the Department of Fashion and Textile Design in Izmir, Aydın, Bursa, and Ankara, where clothing and home textile products of Sümerbank manufactured between 1950’s to 1990’s were exhibited, the department has been showered with donations reflecting the Turkish fashion history from different cities across the nation. A team consisting of Asst. Prof. Dilek Himam Er, Filiz Deniz, Aslı Kocamanlar, led by Prof. Dr. Elvan Özkavruk Adanır, Head of IUE Department of Fashion and Textile Design, started to keep a register of these donations.
Prof. Dr. Elvan Özkavruk Adanır stated that they gathered the collection for Turkish fashion history project through donations by volunteers. Adanır said, “The exhibition, consisting of Sümerbank fabrics and archive which shaped Turkish fashion, welcomed many visitors in Izmir, Aydın, Bursa, and Ankara. In addition to Sümerbank garments, we supported these exhibitions with garments that tell the story of Turkish fashion history. At the end of each exhibition, people from all over Turkey donated various clothing items and objects. The department received more than 200 clothing items and more than 100 handbags, shoes, accessories, Sümerbank blankets, and chinaware up until now. We will be getting ready for a new exhibition as soon as we are done with the inventory”.
Prof. Dr. Adanır, who reported that their objective was to carry the opening of a Turkish fashion history museum into effect, said that they received invitations from different cities and countries for their exhibition of Sümerbank fabrics and archive.