It would be fair to say that I met Murat Aytulum through this interview. In the fashion world – a space that can feel both remarkably small and surprisingly vast at the same time – crossing paths with certain people sometimes takes longer than expected. Our introduction came shortly after Aytulum unveiled his latest collection.
Founded in 2010, the designer's eponymous label reflects a creative journey shaped far beyond the boundaries of fashion alone. Aytulum comes from a family from İzmir. As he describes it, his childhood was shaped by the Aegean region's relaxed atmosphere and strong sense of aesthetics. From an early age, he found himself drawn to visual culture and creative expression.
"Rather than pursuing a single conventional career path, I was always excited by the idea of creating, telling stories and building an atmosphere," he says.
That fascination ultimately led him to study set and costume design at Dokuz Eylül University. Looking back, Aytulum explains that his initial interest was not clothing itself, but the concept of character creation.
"I was interested not only in how people looked, but also in how they made others feel," he says. "As a child, costumes, stage designs, old films and photographs always captured my attention. Design has always been a language of emotion for me."
