A realistic dreamer in fashion: Dilayla Kopuz

As a young Turkish entrepreneur in Scandinavia, Dilayla Kopuz makes an impact in the field of sustainable fashion both with her style and with her innovative clothing brand Imperfectionists. We talked to Dilayla, who prefers cannabis in her designs, about her brand.

As a Turkish female entrepreneur, you own a brand in Scandinavia, but if we wanted to learn more, who is Dilayla Kopuz?

It's true I'm a 22-year-old sustainability entrepreneur, in fact, I just turned 22, and this will be the first interview of 22. I was born in Istanbul, I moved to England at the age of 17 to study at university, then I established my brand with my business partner in Copenhagen, the capital of sustainable fashion, with the effect of the pandemic and Brexit. I always describe myself as a realistic dreamer, I think that dreaming is very important for success, but as long as you stay realistic.

So why fashion as a sustainability entrepreneur?

The fashion industry is one of the industries that cause the most damage to our environment. More than 100 million tons of clothing are thrown away each year, the majority of which are made of synthetic and non-biodegradable materials. These clothes do not decompose for years, just like plastic bottles. Such synthetic products also harm our environment in many other stages such as dyeing, washing in the washing machine at home. I wanted to produce a product that would solve these problems. Of course, my interest in fashion since I was a child also has an effect on my orientation to fashion.

Let's talk about Imperfectionists, your brand. You have a creative vision where words like cannabis, digital fashion, innovation and biodegradability abound, can you explain a little more?

I usually describe Imperfectionists with 3 words: Sustainable, ethical and innovative. I use natural ingredients down to every detail, my current designs are made from a blend of jute and organic cotton fabric. 100% cotton, from embroidery to sewing thread and including our labels. We are working to be one of the leading companies in the field of "biodegradability". Biodegradability means the recycling of a product by natural organisms (bacteria, algae, fungi) into non-hazardous products (water, CO2) in the natural process. We are working to achieve bio-resolution as all of my design is 100% natural. We produce ethically, that is, our employees always work in healthy working environments and without being paid below the minimum wage. Innovation is the fact that we use new and natural-content fabrics in the fabric field, and we reduce the waste that may arise from wrong prototypes by making our prototypes over CLO 3D. I also have a 3D avatar, Fei Fei is his name. I do these works with 3D artists Gülistan Kavvasoğlu and Emily Switzer. Our inaugural launch 1 year ago was also fully 3D.

How did the brand name IMperfectionists come about?

The word [IM]perfectionists doesn't actually exist. It is a word that I created by being influenced by the names of the currents in Turkish literature and playing with the English equivalent of the word "perfection". What it means is that our flaws make us who we are. Until today, the fashion industry has established certain beauty standards, regardless of men or women, and I believe that these standards put pressure on people, a name that symbolizes people's tendency to be themselves rather than looking in the mirror and trying to look like the beauty icon created by other people.

https://happyfashionandfood.com/2021/10/30/modada-realist-bir-hayalperest-dilayla-kopuz/