Famous Fashion Designer Dilek Hanif Visits AU
22.04.2024
Dilek Hanif, a pioneering Turkish fashion designer, was at Atılım University on Friday, April 19, 2024; with the students of our Department of Fashion and Textile Design.
A key Turkish designer in the fields of haute-couture and ready-made garments, with designs worn by the stars and fashionistas of show business, Dilek Hanif shared her know-how and experiences with our students aspiring to work in fashion. Reflecting our cultural heritage through her designs with mastery and finesse, Dilek Hanif designs to empower the traditional handicraft and textile on her NTV show “Halkın Sanatı”, and undertakes an important mission in presenting the values in textile that have come to be over centuries in Anatolia, and keeping them alive through the test of time.
The end-year project, carried out by the students of our Department of Fashion and Textile Design with a similar purpose, aims to raise awareness regarding the richness of weaving in Türkiye, to encourage aspiring fashion designers to use Anatolian fabrics in their current designs, and to leave behind our own textile heritage for future generations. The outputs of the project in question by nine of our students were examined in detail in the exhibition attended by Dilek Hanif herself as well as AU President Prof. Dr. Serkan Eryılmaz, Board of Trustees Member Mrs. Zerlin Zaim, Dean of School of Fine Arts Design and Architecture Assoc. Prof. Dr. Serdar Egemen Nadasbaş, and also the esteemed lecturers as the heads and members of various AU departments, and our valuable students. Dilek Hanif provided her valuable feedback on the designs of the students of our Department of Fashion and Textile Design.
After the exhibition, Dilek Hanif spoke in our Presidency Interviews event, expressing her appreciation for the project by our students in her press release to İhlas News Agency. Hanif stated: “I love the project. And I was glad to know that my show ‘Halkın Sanatı’ was an inspiration for it. In the project, we were aiming for a field to pioneer the youth. It is immensely valuable that Atılım University was here to back the project. The students have done a great job. It was a joy to see all of them.”
Mentioning the need for all stakeholders to work in unison to unearth the forgotten values of textile in Anatolia, Hanif added: “We could get the ball rolling faster through communication among the key brands in the sector, through collaborations with these key brands involving many designers like myself, as well as students or universities, and through getting their support in this regard. Because we need to get that ball rolling to breathe new life into the looms and handicrafts that are fading away from existence. So, we have to start somewhere.”
We thank Dilek Hanif for visiting us.
