Latest news with #Misela
Forbes
15-05-2025
- Business
- Forbes
Misela Opens First Manhattan Store In Noho
Inside the new Misela store By now New York City Mayor Eric Adams is infamously known as a big fan of Turkey's but it also seems Turkey is a fan of the Big Apple. At least when it comes to luxury accessories. Two brands, Misela and Serena Uziyel have both opened retail spaces in the past month as their customer base expands. It also points to the ongoing larger trend of brands focusing on DTC in their own retail spaces whose locations are easily determined based on online data. For Misela, founded by Serra Türker Bayr, the downtown cool of Bond Street beckoned. The brand's roots began in New York when Türker Bayr, launched Misela in 2008 with a largely wholesale business model. The brand, whose names refers to the first two letters of Serra and her sisters name, is produced in Turkey and hit the market during the indie accessories boom and garnered prestigious industry recognition, selling at Henri Bendel and Scoop in their heyday. As the brand grew, so did Serra's as she got married and started a family, she eventually returned to Turkey full time. The Anatolia chevron style is a customizable bag in a variety of styles By 2012 she had opened her first store in Istanbul. 'We started growing the brand there slowly, shifting from wholesale to DTC. The brand got bigger so along the way I wanted to expand internationally, and I opened a boutique in London in 2019,' said Türker Bayr adding, 'I always wanted to come back to New York because my heart was always kind of here because I knew this market and this woman, but I was waiting for the right time.' A hallmark of the brand is its chevron leather pattern which can be customized in various color and stitching details on a variety of totes, carryalls, small leather goods and even suitcases. The made-to-order styles cost the same as items in store and on the shelf. A whipstitched leather trim also comes in 80 colors to accent the twelve base colors. Initials and the brand's Eye of the Tiger motif—a design with roots in Ottoman Empire and Eastern philosophy is a modern talisman for strength and vitality—motif can also be added to bags. Once ordered the bags which are made in Turkey, take 15 to 20 days to be created and delivered. Average price points range from $880 for an Edna tote in Anatolia print to the Sienna doctor's bag style in Los Angeles laser cut pattern for $1,300. Türker Bayr promises a special design for New York. 'I'm a textile designer, originally and I wanted to create this fabric to create timeless handbags. I played around with some designs and I created a zig zag within a Chevron,' she explained. The Belgravia taxi cab yellow style is unique to New York. The brand also features soft leather styles such as quilted styles and laser cut styles that recall architecture motifs. 'There's always a source of inspiration. For example, this I call Theia print which is an alternating diamond pattern,' she explained. Since opening the store in the UK, Misela has leaned into digital marketing which helped build a US customer base, currently focused on New York and Los Angeles. Meanwhile back at home base, the brand opened a new headquarters in Istanbul, a four-story building with two floors dedicated to selling. A design atelier and headquarters occupy the other two floors. 'We partner with galleries for creative approaches in seasonal room concepts. These have been so loved so we wanted to do the same idea here in New York,' Türker Bayr added.
Yahoo
01-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Accessories Brand Misela Lands Stateside With Bond Street Boutique
Misela is kicking off its Stateside expansion with a new brick-and-mortar store. The accessories brand, founded in 2008 by Serra Türker Bayır, is opening a 750-square-foot boutique on Bond Street in Manhattan's NoHo. More from WWD Khloé Kardashian's Good American Brings Size-inclusive Denim to Atlanta Stylein Opens Stockholm Flagship, Grows International Retail Presence REI Names Kristin Shane Chief Merchandising Officer Misela currently operates stores in Turkey and in London, having just opened its flagship Misela House in Istanbul. For Türker Bayır, who studied at the Rhode Island School of Design and the Parsons School of Design and subsequently founded the brand in New York, it's a homecoming. 'In the beginning days, it was just a dream, and now it's a dream come true,' she said, noting the company has grown enough to enter the U.S. market. 'We have stores in Istanbul, we have a store in London that we opened in 2019. But here, coming back is a game changer.' Misela currently sells via its website in the U.S., where its full assortment of both core styles and made-to-order accessories are available. 'New York is a place where there's so many young women like myself and my sister, who are looking for the next thing while also looking for timeless designs,' Türker Bayır said. 'Here, people are open to discovering new things, whereas Europe feels like a bit more of a closed circle in that sense.' Türker Bayır expects the craftsmanship of the products to appeal globally, with everything handcrafted in Turkey. 'We give a very customized experience for customers who come in, and it gives us another angle on marketing our brand,' she said. Tuvana Serdaroğlu of 21A Studio collaborated on the store's design with Türker Bayır, which includes a wooden fixture that mimics the brand's herringbone pattern. A mirrored backdrop on the other side of the store showcases the brand's Belgravia collection, which is differentiated by the locks closing each bag. At the very front of the store is a display of all of the made-to-order bag options, including swatches of different leathers and threads for monogramming. 'We have 12 base colors and almost 80 stitching colors. If people want to personalize their bag, that also leads into the permanent leather collection,' Türker Bayır said, gesturing to the adjacent display. 'I think totes in general are going to resonate here,' Türker Bayır said. 'That, and I think the made-to-order are going to resonate a lot. But I'm also curious to see — sometimes you plan in your head what ever city likes, and each one has its own direction.' Shoppers in London, for example, gravitated toward smaller bags, whereas she thinks the utilitarian qualities of larger totes for work will perform better in New York. That being said, though, she sees opportunities elsewhere in the city for expansion. 'New York is torn into two segments, uptown and downtown,' she said. 'That was our biggest question when we were finding a place. I would love to reach both worlds and Madison Avenue is my dream. And I'd look into other opportunities in Miami or Los Angeles, but New York is the next step.' Türker Bayır was attracted to Bond Street as a location given the street's status as a shopping destination — Misela's boutique is a stone's throw from members-only club Zero Bond, fragrance brand Bond No. 9's boutique, a Goop outpost and more — but also the fact that it's not overly congested. 'It's one of my favorite streets,' she said. 'But it's not like in SoHo, where everything is on top of each other. It's a bit more clean, more refined. There are so many nice restaurants that I go to, and it's the best spot for a new shop and a new brand introduction.' Best of WWD It's Not Just a Bag, It's a Fendi Baguette: A History of Fendi's Famous Bag How to Bag an Hermès Birkin Hollywood Stylist Mimi Cuttrell Designs Capsule for By Far
