Manu Atelier: The Anti-It Bag Label You Need On Your Radar Pronto

I’m sitting in a restaurant with a PR the day after catching up with Beste and Merve Manastır, the sister duo behind Manu Atelier. “I remember seeing their bags about a year ago,” she tells me. “Even then, I knew they were going to be big. There’s just something really special about them and what they’re doing.”

That sentiment isn’t hers alone. In fact, it’s one that encapsulates the feeling of many a buyer and fashion editor, all of whom have been watching the duo closely since the pair set up shop in February last year. Don’t be fooled though, the pair arrived on the scene without bells or whistles – no A-list celebrity attachment, no flashy logo. Rather, it was a simple, sturdy bag, hand-crafted by leather artisans in their native Turkey that caught insiders’ attention. If there was any hoopla, it was the hype that came with the launch rather than the bags themselves. Every big editor has been spotted carrying their unassuming signature Pristine cross body, but it was only this summer that the buzz around the label reached near-deafening levels.

Eva Chen has a lot to do with it. The former Lucky editor turned Head of Partnerships at Instagram posted a photo of the signature style in one of her #evachenpose set-ups. Overnight, they completely sold out from Vakko, the prestigious Turkish department store they’re stocked in. And the phone hasn’t stopped ringing since. Shortly afterwards, they signed an exclusive deal with Selfridges, and both Stylebop and Harrods have bought it this season’s collection too. Even now, they receive hundreds of emails a week from buyers all over the world, trying to add the label to their roster.

Manu Atelier: The Anti-It Bag Label You Need On Your Radar Pronto

With prices ranging from £305 for a slick leather shoulder bag to £360 for a practical leather tote, it’s not hard to understand why they’ve struck a chord. Their aesthetic is pared back with a distinctive masculine touch, something that speaks to their tomboyish sensibilities. The collection – which features four key shapes updated each season in new colours and fabrics – all have an effortless throw-it-on-appeal. Practicality is at the heart of what they do. “For us, the design process includes so many different aspects: the characteristics of the woman wearing it, her perspective of life, her taste of music, the places she loves to travel and the functionality of that design should all come together,” Merve tells me. “When we think about the women who inspire us, we see that they functionality is everything to them. In this digital era,” she continues, “everything has started to become so mass produced so people are yearning for craftsmanship too. We love leather goods created with a story behind them and presented with extreme attention detail. We want to show people the perfectionism coming from the hands, eyes and heart of our artisans.”


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That’s partly what makes Manu Atelier bags different from It bags of old. Rather than being mass-produced in some far-flung factory, every piece is expertly created by craftsman with over 50 years experience. It doesn’t hurt that the factory they’re produced in happens to be the family business. Their father has made a career working with high-quality leather goods. He “started with nothing except his vision and passion,” Beste enthuses. “There have been some deficiencies on the business and innovation side but it’s about building his story in the right way and to the right people…We had a new world-view and wanted to combine traditional production techniques with evolution in research and design.”

Manu Atelier: The Anti-It Bag Label You Need On Your Radar ProntoWhen they started, the pair didn’t have any formal fashion training. Merve studied business administration, majoring in marketing and Beste studied International Relations before working at the US Commercial Service. Both had a stint consulting for a young Turkish designer but their real fashion education took place in the family factory. “We found ourselves fascinated with the artisans’ intricate production operations, the rigorous process made up of hundreds of steps and soon dived right into the heart of the business,” Merve explains.

While Manu Atelier was founded on classic design principles, the collections are also playful. Have a look at their current collection for example, and you’ll find printed coloured calf hair worked with contrasting leather. That mix of old and new is at the heart of everything they do. “The aim of Manu Atelier is to preserve the old while presenting our products to modern women by combining premium leather with pure handcraftsmanship. We love vintage in every sphere, from much and movies to fashion and architecture so we mix that part of us with out new world view.”

So who is the Manu Atelier woman then, I ask? “She is passionate, original, pure and courageous but can also e fragile and harsh, weak and strong,” Merve says. “She has an attitude and style that’s her own…she embraces her spirituality aspires to her dreams and lives through her passions. That’s why we named all of our bags after the characteristics of that woman: Zeal, Pristine, Bold, Maverick and Easy. Even the debut collection was called ‘Nene’ in reference to Nene Hatun, one of the most powerful and successful women in Turkish history, who perfectly reflects a combination of those characteristics.”

Naturally, the pair is busy and, as the demand is unlikely to die down anytime soon, that’s something they’re going to have to get used to. That’s where working and having the support of a sibling comes in, they both tell me. “We don’t have a lot of time outside of work so it’s good that we can take care of each other as we work,” Beste says. “Managing a family is very different to managing a company and we’re trying to manage both at the same time! We’re just lucky that we both have very different characters but are both trying to get the same results from these differences. It gives us the best end product.”

Manu Atelier is available exclusively at Selfridges now.