What inspired you to create SAPAYOL?
I saw a chance to create an incredibly
intimate object, that calls for courage, determination, and adventure. I loved
the idea to foster craftsmanship. And I wanted to do my part in doing fashion
the right way – with care, sustainably, and under great conditions.
I personally had found an opportunity to
get closer to who I want to be and I had to take it.
SAPAYOL,
in Turkish, is a noun that means “the road less traveled by” – how does this
concept translate to the brand’s work and products?
First of all, it's the guiding principle
of why we make jackets: Each SAPAYOL jacket should encourage you to go your own
way, to leave the beaten path and follow your curiosity.
When it comes to our products, it means
that we constantly question every step of the process, every part, every
material, until we get it right. The common way is to try to save time and
money everywhere. That always leads to bad products, though. We start with the
best product and service we can think of and work our way from there. We spend
an extraordinary amount of time discussing the fit to get it exactly right. Our
demands on our leather are so exclusive that the owner of the tannery inspects
every order himself. We pay a premium to our craftsmen. We ship express because
we don't want our customers to deal with customs or taxes.
Leather
jackets are deeply intertwined with the history of the 20th century
– that being said, what are some of the specific reference points or iconic
individuals that inspired SAPAYOL’s jacket designs?
It's not that a particular celebrity,
movie, or character had a specific effect on me and the designs. Growing up in
Switzerland, I've been surrounded with clean, functional, minimal design
(whether that's in graphic design, furniture, or architecture) and that
resonates a lot with me.
How
long did it take to develop the brand and its numerous jacket models? What was
this process like?
At this point it's important to mention
that I knew absolutely nothing about leather jackets, tailoring, or fashion in
general before 2015. I had only worked in media and marketing until then. That
means I had to start from scratch with everything. I spent all of 2015 with
learning about leather jackets, types of leather, tanning methods,
understanding how clothes are made, what players are involved (I didn't know
what a pattern maker was, for example), finding a production partner, sourcing
suppliers and materials, designing a website, and shooting images and videos
for it.
At the end of 2015, we went live with our
first model, the Bleecker, in black.
SAPAYOL is funded by my limited personal
savings – there is no foreign investment or credit – which has a big impact on
how fast we move in the process. I knew at launch that I wanted to offer three
additional styles, but we had to wait a year before we could add the E-161,
Mott, and Linden. In spring 2018, we started to offer brown leather.
One
of the defining characteristics of SAPAYOL is that you offer made-to-measure
jacket customization. What motivated you to offer this as opposed to set size
runs?
Your SAPAYOL jacket should be as
personal as possible, so made-to-measure is just the logical conclusion. And we all know that fit is
the most important thing in a garment. Standard sizes don't make any financial
sense in our case, they wouldn't have a significantly lower price and we can
ship our made-to-measure jackets to our customers within two weeks after their
order. There's no benefit for the customer.
Currently, SAPAYOL offers a number
of different design and color variations. How did you determine these
offerings?
The goal was to offer our take on
the most timeless leather jacket styles. As I've explained a little earlier, we
set the foundation with the Bleecker, our interpretation of a double rider, and
then moved on to three more styles and after that to a dark whiskey color.
SAPAYOL is extremely young and we're taking things gradually.
We want a concise offer that
still gives our customers the ability to get a jacket that matches their
character.
Each
jacket design takes cues from classic leather jacket designs, yet they retain a
modern, refined aesthetic. Can you explain your process in refining/readapting
some of these classic designs into your jackets?
Mostly, it's a process of subtraction.
What purpose does this element of the jacket have? Does it serve a practical
function? Is it elementary to the character of a style? Can we get rid of it?
Can we make it more simple? And of course, we have a certain fit, certain
proportions that we're going after.
Looking
ahead, where do you see SAPAYOL in the next few years?
Everyone that wants to add a truly
special leather jacket to their wardrobe should have heard of SAPAYOL and know
that they're getting unrivaled quality and service from us. We will certainly
offer 1-2 more colors in the near future. Our focus is to deliver one great
jacket at a time and inspire our customers to be their best.
Check out SAPAYOL: sapayol.com
Images via SAPAYOL.
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