ISTANBUL, Turkey: The fashion world has long taken advantage of Turkey's skilled, cheap labour gratefully, but with condescension.
Turkey's apparel industry is tired of toiling in the shadows, though. In recent years, it has been working hard to revamp its image by promoting young Turkish designers and creating its own labels.
It has an ambitious goal: To make Istanbul one of the world's top fashion cities. Soon.
In the industrial belt around the city, producers of clothing for overseas designers are looking for ways to stave off cheaper competition from the Far East. In the centre of the European part of the city, meanwhile, Turkish designers are busy.
Their ateliers are mainly hidden behind the high facades in the upscale districts of Tesvikiye and Nisantasi.
Nisantasi is where Ozlem Suer, a favourite of Istanbul society, creates her elaborate clothing. Just a few blocks away, the Cetin sisters, Ezra and Tuba, work on their Bashqua label, which appeals primarily to a younger clientele.
And Nej designer Nejla Guvenc plans to expand abroad with her clothing lines, notable for experimental cuts and surprising details.
To find inspiration, Turkish fashion designers need only look out the windows of their ateliers. History, culture, art Turkey has them all in abundance.
But not everyone is able to translate the country's rich heritage into fashion that the rest of the world will wear.
Experts see Turkish designers' propensity to opulence, their extravagance with details, as the greatest obstacle to getting their wares in the window displays of Western stores.
Even talented young Turkish fashion designers seem to have difficulty keeping their style uncluttered.
The Istanbul Textile and Apparel Exporters Association (ITKIB) organizes an annual contest for novice designers.
Jury member Renato Balestra, a veteran of "l'Alta Moda Italiana," had the following advice for the 10 finalists this year: "You achieve elegance by leaving things out."
Turkish designer Atil Kutoglu, 37, agreed.
"There are often too many ideas in a model. It's important to find a balance," he said.
Kutoglu is successful. He presents his collections at the New York Fashion Week alongside Donna Karan and Ralph Lauren.
But Kutoglu lives and works in Vienna, not Istanbul. Rifat Ozbek, Hussein Chalayan, Dice Kayek almost all of the Turkish designers who have achieved international recognition went abroad first.
Behind the Dice Kayek label are two Turkish sisters, Ece and Ayce Ege, who are based in Paris.
Is it really essential to work in an established fashion centre? Ece Ege answered this question obliquely, with a question of her own: How did German fashion designer Jil Sander hit it big?
Sander's fame came through the runways in Milan. "Being in Paris gives us a clearer look at our own culture," Ege explained.
"We benefit by exchanging ideas with top designers from all over the world here." But Turkey remains a source of inspiration for her, and a production location with excellent conditions.
Nejla Guvenc, 36, intends to stay in her beloved homeland.
"Istanbul is sadness, Istanbul is joy. Istanbul is old, Istanbul is young. Istanbul is hope, Istanbul is passion, Istanbul is love," she gushed.
"The fashion industry is growing by the day, becoming more important, more global. Not only Istanbul will join the existing fashion centres; other cities will, too."
Istanbul's rapid development is much in evidence its fine restaurants, exciting nightlife, trendy boutiques and ultramodern shopping centres. International trend scouts have had their eyes on the city on the Bosphorus for some time now.
But this is just the beginning. The ITKIB's president, Suleyman Orakcioglu, is pressing ahead with confidence.
"We're continuing to work hard for our goal," he said. "There's only one city in the world both in Europe and in Asia Istanbul."
