Interview: ‘Ebru Sari’ owner and designer of Atelier ExC

Could you briefly introduce yourself and tell us a little bit about your background that lead you to fashion designing?

Let me start by mentioning my mother who is a couture designer, my father and brother are men’s suit sellers, my grandfather sells fabrics and my aunt is a seamstress. I guess you can say I grew up around fabric. This may be incredibly cliché, but from a very young age, fashion has always been an interest of mine. And not from a “what should I wear” perspective, but more so from an artistic and creative perspective. It’s funny as a few weeks ago, my parents found a picture of me and my brother when we were six years old playing dress-up. However, instead of dressing up in Disney Costumes, we were dressing up with my mother’s real clothes! So I think it must have been around that time I decided to go into fashion design. Apart from that, my mother has always been really stylish and she has had a huge influence on me. I gained a lot of practice in my mothers boutique from a small age. I grew up in Ghent, a historic city in the Flemish Region of Belgium. I was good at learning and I could draw well, so after finishing my Humaniora at Sint-Bavo, I decided maybe against my own aspirations to go the University of KU Leuven (Sint-Lucas) and started studying ‘Architecture’, that’s initially what I thought I would end up doing as a career. However, 4 years into my ‘Architecture’ I felt that it was interesting but not completely fulfilling my dreams.. After 3 years I got my bachelor degree and started my master, I realised that I was unhappy, then I decided to follow my heart and switched to ‘fashion styling’ and haven’t looked back since! A new chapter had begun for me! As a result, the styling followed as a natural progression: I like creating outfits and, for those that know me, I have no issue speaking confidently of my decision making, so family and friends started listening and soliciting advice. And here I am. In 2016 I started my own label ‘Atelier ExC’ (Ebru X Cagdas). ExC are the initials of the name of my husband and mine. My husband is my right hand, I am very lucky with him, that's why I wanted to honor him and also refer to him in my label.. After working hard in 2018 ExC Fashion House became a fact!

Describe your designs for anyone who doesn’t know your work yet.

Working in the fashion industry ensures that no day is ever the same and that time moves quickly. Inspiration comes from different areas however we find imagining our muses' different moods and evolving personality helps us creatively. If I have to explain my creations in 3 words : ‘Mature’, ‘Vivid’, ‘Feminine’. I love simplicity and clean lines, clothes that can be styled up to bring out the personality of each client. With a lot of hard work and many inspiring people around me, I try to become not only a better designer but also a better version of myself. The ability for growth is self-knowledge and to never underestimate yourself. A simple but elegant and inspiring message I want to spread into the world.

What is your favourite material to work with?

My favorite material is rhinestones, I love handicrafts and I spend many hours sewing different types of crystals. They give life to a creation.

Which item of all your collections/designs is your favourite and most significant for you?

I designed my favorite creation 2 years ago, a red silk dress. It was unforgettable to me because it was my first creation for an international election to represent Belgium. The dress was successful and stood in many newspapers, it was a dream for me! Every year I also get the initiative to make creations for the biggest miss election of the world ‘Miss World’ and ‘Miss Universe’ to represent Belgium.

How do you want wearers to feel when they put on your clothes?

To me, clothing is a form of self-expression, there are hints about who you are in what you wear. Self-confidence is the best outfit, rock it and own it!

In your opinion, why is lingerie so important to the modern woman?

Wearing lingerie underneath clothing makes a woman feel sexy, makes a woman feel more like a woman. It celebrates sexuality no matter what size she is. That is exactly how we want our customers to feel. Being a woman is not about looking like one, being a woman is about feeling like one. Lingerie helps woman feel feminine! Another reason why lingerie is important, is how much support it provides. Push-up bras and sports bras keep everything in place. It’s more than just clothing, lingerie can showcase a woman’s personality. It helps to define a woman as beautiful, feminine, strong and elegant. It creates a sense of excitement every time she puts it on.

What makes you passionate about your brand?

It’s vital that the customer feels confident. I love to design wedding dresses, when I see the result I become very emotional. Making people's dreams come true at their most important moment of life is unforgettable! Making people happy makes me even more passionate every day... My work brings huge personal rewards as I am helping people enjoy their clothes and feel confident in their appearance. It gives me great pleasure and satisfaction when my clients share with me the compliments that they receive from other people. There are clients who think I am a magician :)

Describe your creative process.

For me approaching new clients should start with a good chat, over a cup of tea. It’s important for me to get to know their personality. I really believe that style is a reflection of a person’s character. Everything is such a collaborative process. I’m a massive fan of continuity and telling story, so having lots of conversations is the key. My work allows me to enjoy meeting and getting to know people from all sorts of fields and backgrounds. I love watching people for inspiration! And not with the intent to judge, but just to observe. I love seeing the various styles and mannerisms, how people carry themselves. It might be bizarre, but it’s effective for me. I use Pinterest because it’s a good space to interact with clients for visual interpretations, but I genuinely try to avoid it for my own inspiration because it takes away from my originality.

What is your most productive working time/style?

I know, it seems obvious, everyone works somewhat differently, but when we started to break down what each person was doing, what we found were very different strengths and weaknesses. Let’s put it out there first, everyone works differently, and not “one style” is the ideal. It is however, useful to think of your “working style” as something that has unique strengths and weaknesses, and use that as a basis to analyze and improve upon your own productivity. You have to keep yourself updated and I do that by looking at the shows every season, going to Fashion Weeks, keeping up with the trends, analyzing the trends, research the magazines and work of other stylists and photographers.

Tell me about a time when a client didn’t like your work.

I’ve been lucky sor far! Maybe I’ve subconsciously blanked them from my memory :)

What was one of your favourite shoots or projects that you worked on recently?

I recently did an ‘Exclusive Magazine’ cover shoot with Angeline Flor Pua (Miss Belgium 2K18) and that was really an honor to work with a publication I was always excited about. It was a dream come true, right off the bucket list. I’m grateful for the opportunities to do my job to its fullest potential. But the most memorable project was my very first fashion show that I organized last year in Antwerp. It was a great success and it was in the spotlight in many newspapers.