The designer does not believe in rejecting custom and tradition in the name of ‘modernisation’ but believes that cultures are only enriched if they are
re-interpreted by the new age. The two separate Abdulla shops on Halicilar Caddesi, the avenue of the carpet merchants, satisfies this aspiration of Ipekçi’s. ‘Abdulla brought a new approach to the Bazaar. That’s why I like his place. The decor and presentation are modern but the soaps and towels and the blue beads hanging at the door are all exactly as they were in the old days...’
Leaving Abdulla, we follow Ipekçi to the shops he frequents. Our next stop is on Terlikçiler Sokak, the street of the slipper merchants, a shop where Afghan and Turkmen goods are sold. Its name, Kuyumcular. What all they have here! Traditional jewellery made of German silver and semi-precious stones, children’s clothes decorated with seashells and old coins, spice boxes...