Aiming to contribute to the production of high value-added products, Design Week Turkey turned to be an innovation parade. T-shirt that predicts heart attack as well as dirt-resistant shirt were only a few of innovations which grabbed great interest.
The first edition of Design Week Turkey 2016 was arranged in cooperation of The Ministry of Economy and Turkish Exporters’ Assembly (TIM) and received great interest. The event was held on October 19-23 at Lütfi Kırdar Convention and Exhibition Center which gathered many international players from industrial design, fashion and visual communication. Several conferences, galleries as well as presentations focusing on Reseasrh&Development and innovation took places during the week, while the most outstanding innovation appeared as smart t-shirt designed to predict heart attacks 1 week earlier. Orka Holding’s dirt-resistant shirts developed for man-wear brand Damat as well as bed clothes desgined by Pınar Demidağ for IKEA were among other innovations.
TIM President Mehmet Büyükekşi spoke during the event and said the organization is a milestone for Turkey’s economic and cultural future while it will contribute to shape up of future trends. “We will continue to proceed in awareness raising activities in R&D, innovation, design and branding areas as TIM. In this context, we will hold Design Week Turkey every year. Design is one of the most important factors that provides added-value across the world,” he said.
Smart T-Shirt Predicts Heart Attack Earlier
Turkish designer Ezra Çetin was spotlighted during Design Week Turkey with smart t-shirt that predicts heart attack earlier. Making a presentation about “Design and Technology,” the founder of ezratuba, Ezra Çetin shared details about smart t-shirts which was designed with support of TÜBİTAK MARTEK as a first with a purpose to provide maximum benefit for human health.
Ezra Çetin reported that these smart t-shirts are able to let people realize any possible life threatening diseases like heart attack, while they will be up for sale in 2017. “We designed 6 t-shirts for women and 2 t-shirts for men with various color options. These t-shirts have leaf-thin fabrics inside which are able to control every spot of the body during daily life or sports activities. Whenever there is something working in a spot, we can be informed about it via this system. Our t-shirts can be used under water as well and they will be up for sale with reasonable prices. We are planning to design it for kids soon. Plus, we designed bags that enable us to use 20 colors and 60 patterns together. Consumers will have chance to design their bag with proper colors and patterns via applications loaded to the bag,” Çetin explained.
Show Hosts World Famous Designers
Apart from world famous Minna Parikka, Hüseyin Çağlayan, Atıl Kutoğlu and Dice Kayek’s founders Ayşe-Ece Ege sisters attended to the show as Turkey’s windows to the world. Dressing the US First Lady Michelle Obama and singer Lady Gaga, Hüseyin Çağlayan noted, “We received considerable support from TIM as a roof association for textile and ready-wear exporters. Atıl Kutoğlu commented, “Customers of luxury brands are asking for unique products which have no other examples around the world. This is quite good news for Turkish designers.”
7 Designers Receive Advanced Design Awards
Design Turkey Awards were given to owners during the event as it is among Turkey’s biggest organization in innovation and branding. The 5th of Design Turkey Design Awards were held in cooperation between the Ministry of Economy, TIM and Industrial Designers Occupational Organization. Among 350 industrial designs in total, 7 were awarded by Advanced Design Prize, 36 received Good Design and 7 of them got Concept Design Award.