of his work in New York, Kutoğlu’s style has acquired an American ‘feel’. ‘Cool’, wearable, and glamorous... His success is naturally no coincidence. Born in Istanbul in 1968, Kutoğlu developed an interest in fashion while he was still a student at the city’s German High School. The first to notice his talent was his art teacher, Wolfgang Schneeweiss. Kutoğlu was regarded as something of a ‘Wunderkind’ at the German High School, where he had until then concentrated on science and mathematics. With the support of the school principal, and after convincing the female classmates he regarded as up to the job, he organized fashion shows two years running. During the same period he had an opportunity to show his designs to Vitali Hakko at the Vakko fashion shows he attended with his mother. Impressed by the designs, Hakko opened Vakko’s doors to this young talent and took him on as a trainee.
After graduating from the German High School in 1986, Kutoğlu decided to pursue his education in Vienna, not in fashion but in management. “Higher education in management gave me the confidence and courage to start