Men’s style in general, and tailored clothing in particular, can be very serious at times. Most of our clothes are inspired by hunting and war, and made in colors such as drab olive, stone gray, and stark white. Fashion historians trace this back to what they call The Great Masculine Renunciation, when men around the world – from the French court to Chinese nobles – traded in their colorful, sumptuous garb for the kind of austere, somber clothes British aristocrats favored.
Rumisu, an accessories company based in Istanbul, is the antidote to this seriousness. They’re a young brand, having started in the summer of 2013, but they’ve already made big waves. They’ve been picked up by leading boutiques such as The Armoury, shown up on Ozwald Boatang’s runway, and received favorable write-ups in Monocle and L’Uomo Vogue. Much of that is because of how they’ve transformed luxury scarves and pocket squares – which are traditionally more conservative items – into playful, at times even goofy, accessories. Their designs invite you into a dreamed-up world of creativity, have a child-like sense of wholesomeness, and are built around themes that are both inspiring and relatable. I find they’re a good reminder that, even when things aren’t going that well, it helps to have a sense of humor.
The company is run by a trio: Deniz and Pinar, who are sisters, and Deniz’s husband Emir. Deniz and Pinar grew up together in Turkey, but have dramatically different backgrounds. Deniz studied fashion in NYC, and then returned home to Turkey to be a designer for an upscale clothing boutique, helping them produce their in-house line. Pinar, meanwhile, studied economics at Harvard and then earned an MBA at Wharton. Later in life, when she decided to do something more creative, she co-founded Rumisu with her sister and brother-in-law. “She’s become the total bohemian in the family,” Deniz says affectionately. “Early in our collections, we had a print titled ‘Come Out of Your Closet,’ which was inspired by Pinar coming out as a more artistic person when everyone expected something different from her.”
That’s a story I often hear in the fashion industry – how someone abandoned a career in finance, law, or consulting in order to make clothes – but it’s rarely put so upfront and center in a collection. Rumisu is able to do it because the sisters treat their products as blank canvases for their artwork. Each season’s collection starts with a theme, which in the past has included things such as folk stories or their trips to Africa. From that theme, the sisters spin out five or six illustrations, which then get scaled into differently sized scarves, bandanas, and pocket squares.
This past season’s theme, entitled “Interspecies Love Affair,” is my favorite thus far. The company describes it as their “celebration of our non-human companions, be they furry or winged, or even a funky combination of the two, who stand by us in all circumstances and all ages, pouring out pure love from their oversized hearts and bringing giant smiles to our faces.” The print above is about the happy phenomenon of how “once-street-wandering kitties turn into home owners” by choosing the right humans. “Istanbul has a lot of stray cats and mine tricked me into adopting her eleven years ago,” Deniz laughs. “They can be very persuasive animals, so I guess I’m a cat person now.” As a big animal lover myself, I bought the red/ blue colorway the moment I saw it.
If these illustrations feel organic, it’s because Deniz and Pinar first draw them by hand using ink, paper, and sometimes a bit of watercolor. The drawings are then scanned and turned into digital files by tracing over the lines using a computer. And finally, those files are sent to a local Turkish factory, where they’re inkjet printed onto fine linens, cottons, and silk crepes. The pocket squares are always made on silk crepe, which has a softer crystal weave than most silk twills. Men who wear patched breast pockets will find these stay up in the pocket without adding any bulk, whereas silk twills can sometimes make patched pockets look like potted plants.
Most of Rumisu’s line is aimed at women, but the company has been slowly adding more unisex and male-friendly items. This past season, they made some camp collar shirts from a heavier version of their signature silk crepe (more will be added next spring, and they’ll include a more affordable cotton variety starting around $200-250 per shirt). At their family’s pop-up shop in Southern Turkey, they also have a small selection of scarves that have been turned into blankets. “Here in Turkey, there’s a tradition for handmade quilts, which are usually constructed from satin, then topstitched with a fluffy cotton padding inside. My mom took about a dozen of our silk scarves and had them turned into these quilts, with a complementary plain color on the backside,” says Deniz. “They don’t work as a proper blanket, of course, since they’re just the size of a large scarf, but they’re very bright and fun. You can throw them over the back of a couch or wooden chair.”
The company has also done two collaborations with Drake’s, which shows how old archival English designs can continue to live on. Some of Drake’s more famous pocket squares – such as their La Dame à la licorne inspired unicorn print – are actually taken from David Evans & Company. David Evans was the last of the old London silk printers before they closed in 2002 (and they were perhaps the last to place to make genuine ancient madder the old way). During their 155-year history, they printed luxury silks on the banks of the River Cray for clients such as Holland & Holland, Drake’s, and Hilditch and Key, going all the way back to the late 1980s. And when they finally closed, their design archive landed at other companies, such as Drake’s and Robert Keyte.
The two Rumisu sisters, who were given access to some of that archive, reinterpreted about a half dozen of those familiar classics. The old tiger, Mogul, and mythical unicorn prints were made a bit more playful and whimsical, with designs that almost look like they came straight out of a children’s book. And Drake’s has used those designs in everything from pocket squares to oversized scarves to even cushion covers.
Admittedly, some of the silk accessories can be expensive, but the company promises more affordable cotton products coming down the pipeline. And the cat themed square is at least more affordable than Turnbull & Asser’s $600 pet squares. I’ve bought two of their squares so far, and while there’s not much roomy for whimsy in classic men’s style, these stay nicely tucked inside a pocket with just a bit of cheery color peeking out. You can find them at Drake’s, The Armoury, and their own webshop.
(photos via Rumisu, Drake’s, and The Sartorialist)
