Chouchette was started with the mission of fostering collaboration between contemporary artists and traditional artisans, to produce high quality contemporary accessories by utilising an ancient wood block printing method, developed and practiced in Anatolia since 7000 BC.
Chouchette not only helps maintain economic stability for artists, but also helps keep the ancient crafts alive.
Chouchette is founded on the principle that good design should be creative, functional, simple, fair trade and eco-friendly.
Chouchette illustrations are wood block printed with organic dyes on 100% natural, unbleached cotton.
Every hand-printed accessory is a limited edition, in order to give the conscientious buyer something unique in the true sense of the word. Due to the nature of wood block printing, each accessory carries its own identity – every artist and artwork is named on its accompanying hangtag.
Art & Artisans: Chouchette was started with the mission of fostering collaboration between contemporary artists and traditional artisans, to produce high quality contemporary accessories by utilising an ancient wood block printing method, developed and practiced since 7000 BC.
Chouchette not only helps maintain economic stability for artists and artisans, but also helps keep the ancient crafts alive.
Chouchette is committed to hand made accessories made by local artisans. All our products are hand printed and assembled by artisans in Turkey, so that you’re supporting art, artists and traditional artisanship in the 21st century. Each accessory is unique, like you. It carries with it the history of its design and its artisanal expertise. Our cotton accessories are created in limited quantities in order to give you, the conscientious buyer, something unique in the true sense of the word. Every hand-printed accessory is always hand finished, which means every piece can have minor variations, which is a sign of its individuality… and yours! Our whole process from start to finish benefits the families of artisans and vibrant art in our community. All our workers are paid high wages, and we do not support child labor.
Design & Beauty: Chouchette creates stylish and environmentally conscious accessories for women who want a better life for all. We too love beautiful products. We too think organic. And we too believe fairness is never out of fashion.
Eco-friendly: Chouchette’s accessories are durable, eco-friendly, artistic and timeless. They are also created ethically and with sustainability at the top of our mind. We use the highest quality fabrics and materials and work with local partners to keep transportation and energy use to a minimum.
How is Chouchette produced?
Our story begins with contemporary artists from around the world, where talented artists create illustrations exclusively for Chouchette. These unique illustrations are than sent to our wood block carver Mr. Ömer in Tokat, a town in the Black Sea Region in Turkey. Mr. Ömer carefully carves out the illustrations from linden tree, keeping all the fine details the artists created. Illustrations may fit in one wood block or may have to be divided and carved out from diverse blocks in order to create the complete illustration that artists design.
Due to the size limitations of the wood blocks and in order to reproduce the composition created by the artists, our wood block print master Mr. Ahmet dips blocks into liquid dye to print the fabric continuously to complete the illustration.
Wood block printed fabrics are dried for at least 24 hours, preferably 48 hours in warm rooms. The dye cures with the heat, yet humidity and direct sunlight are not appreciated.
Artists Gabriela Vainsencher and Cristobal Dam have created exclusive illustrations for Chouchette. We are looking forward to collaborating with artists from all over the world. Our new creations will also include a diverse set of home textiles and bags.
About the Founder of Chouchette:
Devrim Kadirbeyoglu was born and raised in Istanbul in the wake of the 1980 military coup, a time when hundreds of thousands of intellectuals were killed, imprisoned, or driven into exile. This turmoil is written into her name – Devrim means “revolution.”
She studied fine arts at Mimar Sinan University in Istanbul, Turkey. In 2003, she earned an MFA from the Studio For Interrelated Media at Massachusetts College of Art in Boston. Following her studies, she exhibited widely in Turkey, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Switzerland and the U.S.A.
In 2003, she moved to New York City where she lived for five years and worked 9 to 5 at a large corporation in midtown Manhattan that produces hand made carpets. Meanwhile being involved in hand made carpet production that is deeply associated with traditional craftsmanship, family, and the role of women in Turkey, she began to use bi-products of the cultivated cravings inherent in consumerism into her artwork.
She relocated in Istanbul at the end of 2008 and launched Chouchette in May 2013. At the core of Chouchette, producing is connected to the idea that we do not inherit nor own the world, and we share its resources. It is our duty to nurture the environment.
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Chouchette, M.Ö. 7000 yılından beri Anadolu'da uygulanan ahşap kalıp baskı yöntemini kullanarak kaliteli aksesuarlar üretmek ve çağdaş sanatçılar ile geleneksel zanaatkarlar arasında işbirliğini teşvik etmek amacıyla kurulmuştur.
Chouchette, işbirliği yaptığı sanatçılara ve zanaatkarlara gelir kaynağı sağlamanın yanı sıra geleneksel el sanatlarını canlı tutmak adına da önemli bir girişimdir.
Chouchette yaratıcı, işlevsel, yalın ve çevre dostu olma ilkelerini benimsemiştir.
Chouchette aksesuarları için yüzde yüz doğal, ham, pamuklu kumaş kullanılır. Sanatçılar tarafından oluşturulan desenler, kumaşın üzerine organik boya kullanılarak, ahşap kalıp tekniği ile basılır.
Ahşap kalıp baskı tekniğinin doğası nedeniyle, her aksesuar kendine özel kimliğini taşır. Her el baskılı aksesuar sınırlı sayıda basıldığından bilinçli alıcıya kelimenin gerçek anlamında benzersiz tasarımlar sunar. Ürünlerin her birinin etiketinde sanatçı ve deseni belirtilir.
