Fun and joy – clothes with personality from Mandalina Rossa

Someone told me once that before you meet a person and find out he or she has a great personality and you want him or her near you, first of all you just put your eyes on that person. For that to happen, that person needs to stand out from the crowd. And how do you do that? With great clothes. For those of you that stay with a smile on all day long or those who want to be like that, you can dress up from Mandalina Rossa. 

„My customers are the ones who like to get dressed colorful and stand out in crowd.They still keep the inner child alive” - Nazlı Çetiner.

Nazlı Çetiner is the person behind Mandalina Rossa. The business idea came up to Nazlı when she was studying fashion design at Fashion Institute of Technology. In her second year she was sure that she wanted to start her own business. „Little by little I began selling my designs first on the street in Soho, then on Etsy”. And the rest is history, like they say. Nazlı told me how she makes her clothes  and little bit of what knitting is all about.

How did you come up with your brand name?
In Turkish Mandalina means clementine which is my favorite fruit and my nickname. Rossa is red in Italian. I'm a redhead and I had many Italian friends who called me rossa. 

How did you start this passion?
I've been making and creating since I was a child.My mom is a crafter.I was always interested in new projects and materials. I learned knitting at an early age and never dropped the needles and yarns from my hands.
After studying fashion design with knitwear specialization I was set up to work on my own business.

 
What goes into making such interesting items?

I work spontenously directly on the material rather than planning and drawing first.I like the feel of the fabrics and yarns. If I know what I'm going to make I make it very quickly.Usually by looking at the fabric or yarn, I can visualize what can be made out of it. 

Nazlı loves to make circle skirts, because ti's practical and looks great. Her best seller is Vintage Sewing Machines T-shirt, but she is currently out of it.  Don’t worry, Nazlı will make more T-shirts soon.

How do people get in touch with you? Where do you sell?

I have a website that runs trough tumblr www.mandalinarossa.com and also a Facebook page and twitter account. In Istanbul I have a shop/studio co-operated with my boyfriend where I sell my designs and give sewing classes.

I see a lot of people starting their handmade business. What do you think makes you stand out from the crowd?
Everyone has their own style and their own crowd who appreciate them. My customers are the ones who like to get dressed colorful and stand out in crowd.They still keep the inner child alive.

Besides Mandalina Rossa, Nazlı is running a studio/shop Zelazo (zelazolab.com) with her boyfriend. They make a monthly workshop schedule with other maker friends. The workshops include soap making, pinhole camera making, linocut printmaking, sewing… Also they have a fabric shop fabriconly.etsy.com, because she loves collecting fabrics.