5 Minutes With The Sisters Behind MANU Atelier's Cult Handbags

originally published on lyst.com - january 2017

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If you haven’t heard of MANU Atelier, the luxury leather label started by Beste and Merve Manistir in 2014, then chances are, you’ve probably seen one of their bags. MANU Atelier's perfectly crafted box bag, aptly named the Pristine, has made waves in the fashion set in the past few months and has been worn by everyone from bloggers to editors—even Facebook’s Head of Fashion Partnerships Eva Chen has featured one in one of her iconic #EvaChenPose shots. Here we caught up with the sisters to find out what is so unique about each of their bags, where they get their inspirations and why they will never move production from their native Istanbul.

Do you have any early memories of your father's leather factory?

Our father has been a making handcrafted leather goods since 1961 and was working with leather throughout our childhoods. We used to play on the balcony of our father’s first atelier above Istiklal Avenue in the Beyoğlu district and used to love the smells of the leathers and the bustle of the factory. We spent lots of time in his studio just waiting for our own bags to be finished—he used to make us beautiful mini backpacks and handbags as children which we always loved. When we were dreaming about creating a brand, it was these memories that inspired us to go ahead and create our own line.

Did you always see yourselves following in your father’s footsteps?

Yes, he has always been and still is our inspiration. He is an amazing human being as well as an amazing craftsman. I think we always knew that we would eventually create our own business because we wanted to follow in his footsteps as well as show the world his amazing work.

How did you come up with the design of your first bags?

The Pristine was our first style, the box bag which we recognize as our signature, and was inspired by an old design that our father created and we remodelled it in new fabrics and sizes. The Pristine has been redesigned seven times; it was a style we were thinking about for so long when we were first started MANU Atelier. The shape comes from our own geometrical manufacturing techniques of folding corners and assembling. The shape is completely hand-cut (by our father) and hand-painted and the folding stitches create the unique shape.

We’ve seen your bag’s described as “anti It-bags,” was that always you intention when you started out?

Actually, we weren’t trying to create an “anti-It” bag as such. We were trying to create a bag for the MANU Atelier woman, who was and still is our main inspiration source. She is the type of woman who defines the brand, not one who is defined by a brand. She is passionate, original, pure, courageous, but she can be fragile and sharp, weak and strong. She has an attitude. Her style is her own. She is both inspired and inspiring. She embraces her spirituality, aspires to her dreams and lives through her passions. We do not want her to change her bag each season through trends; we want the “Pristine” to become a part of her during day and night.

Even Eva Chen is a fan—that must be pretty exciting?

We were delighted that Eva posted her Pristine three times on her Instagram. We weren't prepared for the interest after she posted. Our own site sold out of the Pristine style multiple times and we received an influx of sales and enquiries from all over the world, with lots of requests coming from Asia. This meant that we had to open to the international market one season earlier than we planned so we could meet the existing demand from very important retailers. It was really exciting for us!

Who else would you love to see carrying one of your bags?

We’ve always had a woman in mind that we try to appeal to since the launch of our brand. We love to see every woman carrying our bags—whether they are famous or not. There are a few well-known people we’d love to see carrying one of our bags including Gwyneth Paltrow, Leandra Medine Cohen, Sienna Miller, Beyonce and Issa Rae.

What’s next for MANU Atelier?

We are planning to introduce new shapes and other surprises for the upcoming seasons while we keep on working to create a solid global brand.