By Violet MacLeod
Photography courtesy of NISSE
After moving from Montréal to Istanbul in 2002 with her husband, Nargisse Akyuz chose to nurture her design talents at the College LaSalle in Turkey. Two years later, she launched her first collection and opened her first boutique. Akyuz ran it herself, in order to connect with the costumers on a personal level and understand what styles they wanted. In 2011, the designer opened a flagship boutique on 4109A Saint-Denis Street in Montréal.
Her line, NISSE, comprises women’s ready-to-wear clothing and is manufactured in Turkey. It’s also available in the United Kingdom, the Middle East and across Canada.
NISSE recently revealed its fall/winter 2013 collection, which focuses on simplicity and purity. The latest designs were shown at Arsenal Gallery with a focus on “a strong woman living in a man’s world.”
The line is designed to be a multifunctional wardrobe. A perfect example of the collection’s utility is the HELYA eveningwear dress: the floor-length skirt and full-length sleeves are detachable, allowing the wearer to modify the garment to fit their look and style.
The line includes pants, blouses, dresses, eveningwear and jackets, which can be mixed to create numerous different looks. The designs cater to the active lifestyle of today’s woman with modular coats, such as the DAPHIE, which features a detachable black scarf. Some of collection’s coats can be worn up to four different ways, depending on the desired function or look.
Using beige and black tones, alongside shades of green, blue and red, the collection maintains a sensual and pure look, despite its architectural structure and close-fitting silhouette. Expected to be a top trend this fall, NISSE features plum as a statement colour in some of its designs. Embracing volume and flexibility, the brand incorporates different materials, such as wool, fur, leather, lamb, cashmere and lace.
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