For all the sexiness that radiates from Burc Akyol’s designs, he says he is as sensitive to what the wearer might wish to feel as want to project. “Revealing the body is not something aggressive; it’s like, what are you comfortable showing?”
This afternoon marked Akyol’s debut on the official Paris Fashion Week calendar. Barely two weeks ago, he was among the nine finalists competing for the LVMH Prize—a double boost of well-earned industry recognition for a designer who launched his namesake label in 2019, not long before the world went on hold.
Back then, Akyol invited this reviewer for an informal visit to his home-atelier. Immediately clear was his overt approach to erotism through looks that merged sharp tailoring with sheerness and flou. The body was front and center, but the seduction came from the minimalist construction of the garments and the mystique they signaled. Today, staged in the courtyard where metal palms and an expanse of carpet the color of sand conjured an intimate desert oasis, the combined men’s and women’s collection was consistent to his nascent vision, only more finessed—an impressive leveling up.
Akyol continues to develop a design language that speaks to his French-Turkish background, including the structured shoulders inspired by the kepenek, a protective garment worn by shepherds, and the harem pants sliced open down the front. “It’s a very sexy move, tying your own ankles, making it strangle,” he said cheekily of a wraparound feature. Waistlines, conversely, were loosened and slung low to hint at hip bones, while column dresses in shimmery golden knit and liquid-like silver gripped the body all the way down.
But then he introduced well-placed wisps and whorls of mousseline that cast his kink in a more sensual light, like a material breeze. A trench with an integrated draped sash was arousing simply by being so masterfully covered up. “There are personal taboos that drive desire, libido. And the more you hold them in, the more they go into what you are making,” he said. “I guess that’s the part where I am more an artist than artisan; I love letting the work reveal the things I fantasize about.”
If one feels obliged to point out that fantasies can be highly personal—the clingy, nearly nude knits and body stockings might attract only a select few—Akyol delivered some exciting statement pieces, such as a long coat of impeccably stitched leather panels. As with other looks, it conveyed stature while confirming his savoir-faire. Most revealing of all (and fueled by mega muses such as Kendall Jenner, Cardi B, and Cate Blanchett) was the sense that his slow-but-steady burn has what it takes to ignite.
