When sisters Pinar Yeğin and Deniz Yeğin İkiışık came together, each just off a different life path, they created Rumisu, an accessories design project that invites everyone into their “whimsical world”. Rumisu honors and represents its place of origin – Turkey – and works in cooperation with the United Nations Development Project (UNDP). This month, Pinar and Deniz are Yesilist’s “eco-pioneers of the month”, giving true value to what it means to do what you love, have fun with it, and give back to the community.
Yesilist English: How did the idea for Rumisu begin? I imagine you both were in very different places and going in different directions in your respective lives before you came together for this project.
Rumisu: Education-wise, yes, we were in very different places, but we have always been very close and into the same things. We worked in the family business together for quite a while as well, enough to know we enjoyed working together. We also have the same approach towards design and art and at one point, we both realized we wanted to start a new path and it came natural to us to want to do it together.
And we didn’t necessarily start “Rumisu” specifically as an accessories and foulard brand, but rather as a name or brand, under which we could allow ourselves to create what we love using our own illustrations, since drawing was our number one passion. We also enjoy working as freelance illustrators, doing collaborations, and we slowly began to expand our borders. The idea of printing on fabric came naturally to us since we come from a family with a strong textile background and we thought that a scarf would give us the best kind of blank canvas and the best way for us to be able to turn our illustrations into a wearable form of art. We aren’t number-focused either. We aim to share our inner, somewhat naïve world in the form of art with whomever enjoys it.
Continue reading more about Deniz and Pinar at Yesilist English…
