“The products I design are among the products that I sell more because they are functional, that is, they can be used both as a necklace, bracelet and ankle ring. There are poppy model, bougainvillea model, rose models, and these leather jewelry models, which I give as flower names, are among the frequently sold products.”
As Magazine Leather Publishing, we are together with Ms. Sibel, owner of “@deridanstasarım” “Leather Dance Design” Workshop in Antalya region of Turkey. We will talk about the Chitre plant and its products, which reflects leather craftsmanship to her art and carries the natural adhesive and hardener feature she found with her own method.
Ms. Sibel, can we first get to know you and the Leather Dance Design Workshop?
First of all, thank you for coming here to get to know me and introduce me. I have been doing this job for about 7 years. In fact, my story started with a plane leaf and then continued. Previously, I wanted to talk to a few places to transfer information for a course on this subject, but unfortunately my searches did not yield results, so I decided to learn on my own.
Thinking about how I could do it, I made a mold and started to make it somehow. Then, of course, since it was not with the support of someone while I was producing it and because I was doing it on my own, I was always in search of how I could do it better, how I could fix it by seeing the mistakes.
I met Chitre two years ago. What is Chitre? Chitre is actually a plant that is my main source. When cuts are made on the stem of a plant called mule’s hoof and that liquid comes out, it hardens and solidifies. Then people who sell plant products collect it and call it chitre. In this way, I buy it, I put it in water to liquefy it, then I drop some laurel oil in it to make it smell good, so there may be other plant oils and extracts. The purpose of this is to harden it, I use natural plant extract instead of solution with my own methods both in terms of better shaping and better solidification of the product I will make. Those who think it can be used in leather work can buy it.
You said chitre is a natural and herbal product….
Yes, absolutely yes. Because plant extract, a natural product is never harmful and it is even used in the food industry, it is already plant extract. The reason why I prefer this is that in textiles, they use a solution to glue many things, I know this in the leather industry. But since the jewelry I produce directly touches our body, I thought what could be natural and I found Kitre by trying it. I actually don’t know if anyone else uses it.
So you found it with your own research…
Yes, yes, by experimenting, I tried many things, I wondered what would happen if I did this, what would happen if I did that. For example, at first I burned the tip of a laurel branch and used it to shade the plane leaves.
Then, for example, something stuck in my head. In fact, that’s why I wanted something to hold the chitre, that is, to solidify, to harden it. But what could this be? It is both a natural material and not harmful. Since I didn’t have much knowledge, I didn’t go to any course, I researched and tried, and this is how the Kitre journey began.
Also, since I started, the question of why there is no “leather bead” has been stuck in my head. I mean, how can leather beads be made? Because those are things that are in jewelry accessories. For example, those who make a metal, glass, ceramic handicraft art all have the material ready. I wondered why leather doesn’t have it. I tried it after I found the chitre.
As you can see, I have made these leather beads, they are completely glued, but you can still tell. For example, as you can see, when you touch it, you feel that it is hard. In fact, I make it by putting a few leaves in the center, then I make it round and open the center with a hole punch, so the string can also pass through.
The models are completely mine. I try to make jewelry unique to my imagination. For some reason, my mind always drifts to fashion shows because I think that these products will be more aesthetic and more visible on a live mannequin with what kind of clothing or leather jacket or fur, so I can say that it is my dream, albeit a little exaggerated.
Did you go to any design school or have you ever been interested in design?
That’s a good question. As I said at the beginning, I have no experience in design, but when I look at something I always ask myself: How else can it be? I am more interested in non-standard and extraordinary things. For example, in ready-to-wear, when I see a product with a pocket model like a strap on the outside instead of a sewn pocket, I am more interested. Maybe that’s why I tend to be a bit unusual. Also, my mother was a tailor. Maybe my mother being a seamstress had an effect on me. Because she would design different things for me. I am a Child Development graduate myself, and I had some manual skills as a child. But I never thought of designing jewelry one day, it was something completely spontaneous.
You love leather then…
Yes, I love leather, I love the texture. My father took me to leather workshops. We used to buy pieces of leather from the one called Mercan yokuşu in Istanbul today. Then I cut them into small triangles and made mosquito nets. My leather journey began. I have been continuing like this for 7 years since then.
But of course because I know that I do things that are very different, that don’t appeal to everyone. You know, for some people this may seem too exaggerated, and some people express this. Some people like it very much. So there is a certain group of people who are into this. But of course I would like this, I mean, I would like famous fashion designers to give a chance to women like me, who are doing this as entrepreneurial women on their own, who are trying to do something with their own efforts. For example, it could be something like preparing something that they might like while preparing for a collection or a fashion show. Of course, I also have such dreams, let it be heard from here. Because this is also my dream.
How did the name of your workshop “Leather Dance Design” “@deridanstasarım” evolve?
I hadn’t thought of a name before. When I started this business with a sycamore leaf, I started by wondering how I could do this, there was no name yet. Then I found the name when I decided to open an Instagram account.
Because years ago, when I came to Alanya again, I was not doing this job at that time. I said to myself, what can I do out of the ordinary, how can I learn? I went to a course here, I mean to meet the owner. I said it’s not like what everyone else does but I want to do something different. What kind of courses do you have? I also love leather, do you have any courses that you can teach me about leather? I said… and when there was no such course, I had already learned it through my own research.
Then the lady there said to me, you are already dancing with leather, what can I teach you, I don’t have any knowledge and we don’t have such a course on leather. That word stuck in my mind. I liked it too, then yes, dancing with leather is a beautiful thing, isn’t life like that anyway, like catching rhythms… I had heard this years ago. Then I said let’s not think about the name, let’s call it “Leather Dance Design”, let it be a woman dancing with leather, and that’s how it developed.
It’s a very nice name, it appeals to women and has very good craftsmanship. So, what would you like to say about your different product designs?
Although I don’t have it available, I was working in the form of dresses before, like skirts, because I don’t go with a routine, that is, I try to reflect a model that comes from my heart at that moment.
Sometimes, of course, I meet the requirements, because making leather products is something that develops slowly because it is handcrafted, you know it doesn’t develop quickly, it has stages, it takes a long time. Sometimes I try to leave it when I have the opportunity and do whatever I have in mind.
But if you ask in general, for example, what I think about what people other than me are doing, it’s actually thanks to your initiative. Why is that? Because I think there are so many people doing this job in such a disorganized way that they are unaware of each other or the developments. For example, there are cutting machines that can make it easier with technology. For example, I learned about this from your page. For example, I learned that there is an association about leather from your page. I didn’t know this before. That’s why I think your publishing is very important.
There are people all over the world who are dedicated to this business. Of course, this is not a small entrepreneur like me, but there are also very big companies in other countries and in Turkey that do this in an industrial sense. Maybe they do this by taking big orders, but we also contribute to recycling by evaluating these small pieces.
I see that leather technologies have advanced a lot, for example, waterproof leathers are being made in leather, you know, new innovations are constantly developing. There are leather products from unlimited kitchen utensils to an ornamental accessory that can be used in a home decoration, maybe on the wall.
Sometimes even when I make products myself, I’m not a painter, but especially after finding this Chitre, because it allows the product to stick, for example, if a painter actually uses chitre to add dimension to a painting and adds leather pieces on top of it, actually such things can happen. Sometimes different things come to your mind and in this mind pool, if everyone’s knowledge comes together, is evaluated and transferred to a more advanced dimension, you know, for example, I would like to teach what I know, so I would like to share what I know and I learned by trying it myself, this is an idea, like adapting and developing this idea…
Exactly. You have already said that you use Chitre, and the most important thing about it is that it is actually a natural material related to sustainability, it is about durability.
The work you have just mentioned, for example, the pieces of leather left over from the tanneries and garment workshops, the work you do to utilize them and to make the leather left over not as a waste, but to make it economical and to put it into production in terms of sustainability is really important.
For example, when I cut, I get small pieces like this, and I never throw them in the garbage, I also make use of those small pieces.
You create your mold yourself…
Yes, I paste the flower itself on the paper with chitre and then I draw around it, I also use it in its original form. I do it as it comes from the heart. I really love this job…
Again, using the sycamore leaves I made as a mold, I made a glasses case, with brass buckles at the ends and a leather hanging rope, which can be attached to your trouser belt or buttonholes of your shirt, and you can also use it as a glasses rope with the leather rope of the case after you take your glasses out of the case. I’ve made several colors of this.
This is one of my very popular products orchid, but this time I designed it as a couple. Of course, the reason why I designed it in this way is that the product is functional, that is, it is among the products that I sell more with the feature that it can be used as a necklace, bracelet and ankle ring. Poppy model, Bougainvillea model, Rose models, these leather jewelry models that I give as flower names are among the frequently sold products. The products are accessory jewelry that can be used not on a daily basis, but on special occasions to integrate with their dresses and especially in fashion shows.
Do you participate in fairs and festivals in Turkey?
I have never had the chance to participate in fairs, there is a culture and art festival in Antalya, and I have also participated. Yes, there is interest, but there is such a problem. When you put a leather product on the table, it doesn’t show itself and when I put another product next to it, it doesn’t attract attention. For example, I make a necklace, but in fact it is also a bracelet, it is also a shahmeran worn on the foot.
In order to make it visible, when it is presented as a detail of a dress on a live mannequin rather than a festival, it attracts more attention in fairs and fashion shows.
These leather accessory products can be presented in the presentations of any women’s shoe brand by combining the ankle strap leather accessory detail…
I designed a product that can be worn as a bracelet, it is actually a bracelet, but it can also be worn on the foot, it can also be used by putting it on women’s sandals, it can be a bracelet, it can be a necklace, in other words, it can be used as an accessory in many functions.
I guess this has become a bit like my specialty, when I prepare a product, my customers ask me what else is available. Or for example, when I say earrings, they immediately write. They are very used to this. They expect this from me.
These leather accessory products can be presented in the presentations of any women’s shoe brand by combining the ankle strap leather accessory detail…
I designed a product that can be worn as a bracelet, it is actually a bracelet, but it can also be worn on the foot, it can also be used by putting it on women’s sandals, it can be a bracelet, it can be a necklace, in other words, it can be used as an accessory in many functions.
I guess this has become a bit like my specialty, when I prepare a product, my customers ask me what else is available. Or for example, when I say earrings, they immediately write. They are very used to this. They expect this from me.
So, which products are the best sellers?
Since I only sell on Instagram, there is an online shopping site connected to it. I also sell from there, so if there are jobs where I have to work on clothes in sizes, this is challenging. Of course, I realized this with experience. Because she doesn’t want to buy without trying it on, she wants to see how it looks on her. This has developed over time.
Most women love flowers. I had tried a poppy model as a product before and it was very popular and liked. I have to take a break from making models in order to produce something new. For example, I made daisies, some women like daisies more, some can’t stand seeing roses. So this time, when I went out, for example, I thought if I could make a product from this flower and brought it home. As I said, I make the molds with the patterns.
So as a category, these are mostly sold as necklaces and earrings. They also love asymmetrical vests. But I don’t always have the opportunity to produce them. When I make them, there are those who prefer to keep them as mine.
Do you have customers from abroad?
Yes, I do, one of them even made my dream come true. Max, he is a stage performance artist. I had made orchid leather jewelry before and he wanted to use it on stage. I had even made a ring and a ring for his feet, and then he used it on stage. I always make these products by imagining the people on stage. I liked Max’s interest in the products very much. I sent the products to the U.S. Orchid said she was in love with the products and asked for them.
Then again a wood artist in Belgium asked for a multiple order of Orchid and Bougainvillea as leather jewelry products and I sent them.
I would very much like to be in contact with someone abroad who buys these products ready-made and sells them, and it would be my preference to have a bulk shipment.
At least with the companies there, for example, there may be companies that sell jewelry and leather goods, there may be a company that sells apparel products, they can actually present a fashion exhibition of these accessories to sell them to be used in their own collections.
It’s motivating. Because you dedicate a lot of time. You spend a period of time on that model to create a product. When production is fast, it is easier to look at it as a business. I sell my products on Instagram with my own efforts. In fact, production is different, sales are different, and you need to allocate time for them.
Which platforms are you currently on social media with the name “deridanstasarım”?
Yes, we are present on Instagram, Linkedin, Facebook and Pinterest as a @deridanstasarım workshop. They can follow us on our Social Media accounts and look at the products.
When you look at it from the perspective of a fashion designer, there is effort and details. What would you like to say to young designers?
Thank you very much for your kind and kind words that you see in this way. But I can’t call myself such a designer, because then I would be doing an injustice to designers. I do it on my own, in my own way. But if I have any help, I can reflect on my own experiences. I wanted to share this because there are talents in schools who are being trained for this.
I think when they make mistakes, they shouldn’t quit, because I’ve learned a lot of my models by making mistakes. Sometimes you think that the cut is wrong, this situation opens up another idea about what you can do. That’s why it’s a very different process that energizes people.
In other words, art is both a process in which you get lost and creates a very interesting experience in which you can find yourself. It’s very exciting. I think people will understand me after seeing this. This can be a picture. Maybe it’s waiting for a flower to bloom. Be that as it may. I find the leather design very exciting. They can try different things that they think are very good. It’s not just what they see, it’s like, what else can I pair this skin with?
I want to talk about an entrepreneurial story, for example, there is banana fiber. Fabrics made of banana fibers were produced in Alanya, Turkey, and these were exhibited at the fair here in 2016. They mixed it with silk and knitted it. For example, she is not a designer, but a peasant lady knits rugs and makes them herself. He said that I should not waste these banana peels, I should remove the fibers of them and knit them, and he said to make a rug out of banana fiber, and he started, then he dyes them with root dyes and creates a rug. Years later, he exhibits it at the Cultural Center, he says, “I made something like this, and look, it’s not spoiled at all.” I used it, it’s in good condition. He says let’s teach this, let’s produce it because it is natural, so that it will benefit the country and bring it into the economy. This project starts with a woman trying it on herself and then realizing how strong she is when she uses it. Then there is a touch here, but this project is interrupted because they cannot find an entrepreneur.
I wanted to bring this up specifically because it’s exciting. For example, something that provides an incredibly beautiful integrity with the skin. That’s why I think you can take a new path by trying new things, not being fixed-minded, and you can bring a design to a conclusion.
So I started out of curiosity. In other words, it is gained over time by trying to see if I can do this, who will show me this, how can I do it, can I do it alone, so I think the most important thing is to go with the flow, to keep trying, to try.
As Magazine Leather Publishing, we talked about the products of the “Leather Dance Design” “@deridanstasarım” Workshop in Antalya, Türkiye.
Ms. Sibel, thank you for sharing important information with us.
I thank you, I wish you good publications.
