We talked to Mina Dilber Temo about her home textile brand Anim Living and her lifestyle in her house surrounded by art.
Can you tell us about the living space?
As a matter of production, I get excited and passionate about everything I do, buy, love. This could be my job, a tattoo I just made, a book or ceramic I bought home. We moved into this house two years ago after we married Sinan. Very simple but I think it is so colorful and moving. It looks a bit like my character.
Can you listen to the story behind the new home textile brand?
Anim Living is a new and very exciting adventure for me, which is very old and imagined. I come from textile families both on the mother and father side. At the beginning of the 19th century, when Thessaloniki was included in the Ottoman Empire, it was my father’s family who started the textile trade. Yarn, cotton piece of fabric, garments products… they have established one of Turkey’s top five cotton yarn export company.
With the great fire of Thessaloniki in 1917, the whole family decided to move to Istanbul. My father still exports yarn and fabric today. My grandmother is from Bursa; In 1972, he opened his own textile workshop, developing home textile products for 20 years and making many designs. After many years, my mother started to work in this sector and realized different home and hotel textile projects for a long time.
It must have been because I’ve always been in textile since I was little; In fact, I dreamed of doing something different in a different sector for years. About a year ago, I noticed that young and dynamic products, especially in the field of home textiles, were not very much. Thanks to my mother, I was able to get the textile products I wanted for my own home in a short time and I started to get pleasant feedbacks from my friends who saw this.
I imagined a home textile-based life brand that takes root in quality and culture, can keep up with today’s trends, and hopes to excite people as much as it excites me. My aim is to create high quality textile products that can find a place in every home and life in a modern, effortless style with traditional touches. Although I have a long way to go, I want to bring these products to the fore in different countries and in different markets. In this process, Turkey’s where the magic of hand-woven fabric and values of wealth has caught up, I fell to them in advance to tell the world.
What is the starting point of your collection for this summer?
In fact, I imagined four main and timeless collections that I would always want to be under Anim; The flagship Classic Essentials, with its blue-white color palette, embellishes the Aegean coastal lifestyle, Terra, which smells of earth and nature, and Ethnic Vintage, which excites me the most. craftsmanship and the richness of the fabrics in Turkey really have numbered in the country on the world.
Ethnic Vintage aims to bring these values to the fore and tell the world. For example, there is a series of products such as pillows, cafes, table cloths prepared by hand-woven, colored and striped fabrics from the Black Sea region for approximately 100 years. creativity in this sense, Turkey, manual labor and material wealth is really tremendous. I want to explain these values to the world better.
In fact, there are pieces overflowing from the house to the street, just like a fabric bag. What is the interaction between Anim Living and fashion? Can you tell us about your personal style? How would you describe the spirit of your wardrobe?
I’ve always dreamed of Anim as a brand of life rather than a home textile brand. Home textiles also come to life with living spaces. Anim has a very simple, yet at the forefront of comfort but also a colorful spirit. I believe that it will grow with different, innovative and enjoyable collections over the years while remaining faithful to that spirit and inspired by fashion. In this scope, products such as fabric bags, caftan, beachwear will also be more.
As for my personal style; I think that style is actually a reflection of a person’s life and character. In my daily life, simplicity and comfort are at the forefront, so I usually wear plain and plain clothes. I’m trying to wear the pieces that I think would suit me better than the fashion one. I can say that I have a wardrobe which is very plain and simple and also colored according to the place and hosts plenty of patterns.
Is there a piece you’re particularly fond of, like shoes or earrings?
I love to buy a blazer, I always wear it easily in every outfit. I love the colorful and the short and the long dresses. I can take a look at the evening dresses. Earrings and bracelets are also the parts I enjoyed very much. I like Lalaounis, Apriati and Jessica McCormack. My favorite bags, earrings are always from my mother. I’m very excited about everything in vintage.
Are there any new talents that have been of interest in fashion and design lately?
I followed Diega very much last season and bought a few designs. I am also interested in Xirena and Nili Lotan. I’m wearing a lot of Dezso necklaces and bracelets these days. Roxanne Assoulin’s colorful summer bracelets are so sweet. Brooke Gregson, Abis and Mary Gaitani make great earrings and bracelets.
Creating a brand is no longer just about being a designer or marketer, but a holistic approach and mastering everything. How is your approach to social media and internet sales?
Absolutely. In fact, creating a brand means revealing a story as a whole. From product to marketing, I think all values of the brand should speak the same language and be part of a sustainable story. Today, I think that social media is a very important tool in this sense. I believe in the importance of identifying both social media and sales channels over the internet and drawing a road map in line with the target audience of the brand. I hope over time
I can draw this right roadmap for Anim.
I understand you have a special interest in art. Who are the local and foreign young talents you follow? What are the indispensable addresses for discovery in Istanbul?
Yes, I enjoy art. I am not just following, reading, learning, visiting exhibitions, studying works or getting a job; it’s what excites me about getting to know artists and being a guest in their world. Engin Firat, Ali Senturk, Merve Iseri, Yusha Yalcintas, Ihsan Siturmak, Gozde Ilkin, Rasim Aksan, Erdal Smoke, Basim Magdy, Sejla Kameric, Anahita Razmi, Richie Culver, Soufiane Ababri… I try to visit all the exhibitions as long as I can.
I love spending time in all the antique and vintage shops, especially Alaturca House in Çukurcuma. I think this is a curiosity from my father. Other than that, I spend a lot of time all over Istanbul and even in the small villages outside because I am always in search of fabric. So I’m always excited about exploring.
So, do you have a little known interest in your environment?
Actually, the thing that makes me happier is riding a horse. After a period in my childhood, I started again two years ago. I try to go three times a week. I’m really peaceful with the horses around me, in the green and in the nature. I don’t know much about running around the city all day, but it’s just one of my happiest days, when I’m in the green.
Your plans and dreams about summer?
Anim Living’s website will be launched in the coming months, so I am in a very busy working tempo. At the same time Anim products will have several different selling points, it has its plans. There is also a collaboration project that excites me towards the end of the summer. I’m very curious about Peru and Bolivia, and I would love to see you this summer if we can organize it. Apart from that, Göcek, Greece and Croatia are among our summer plans with my family and friends.
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