Esra Çöpür

Everything I Touch Turns Into Me

Born (in 1998) and raised in Amsterdam, Esra Çöpür is a fashion designer who moves fluidly between disciplines such as installation art, performance, theatre, music, and film. A 2019 graduate of the HKU, she explores the boundaries of fashion by redefining existing garments and creating unexpected contrasts — from sculptural biker jackets to fluid blouses. Her work is characterised by the use of deadstock and second-hand materials, bringing together forms and textures in inventive ways. Inspired by her Turkish roots and Ottoman clothing traditions, she weaves subtle cultural references into designs that approach fashion as a multidisciplinary and layered art form.

'Everything I Touch Turns Into Me’. In this work, installations, garments, and image transfers on wood merge into a visual landscape of identity and culture. Esra explores how intuition and creativity shape her identity through patterns and materials. “Everything I make becomes a part of me; sometimes my hands find answers my mind struggles with.” The research started with a study of dress practices within Dutch-Turkish communities, compared with traditional clothing from rural villages in Turkey. Motifs and their symbolism in Ottoman clothing and Turkish carpets serve as inspiration, intuitively carried into the present. By reimagining techniques such as İğne Oyası lace and knotting, traditions are rewoven into her own story, revealing how migration and context shape ways of dressing.

SAC
Rechtstraat 80, Maastricht