New label N'onat launches cruelty-free outerwear

Nihan Onat was born and raised in Istanbul where she began her career working for leading Turkish textile companies before freelance designing in the Turkish and European markets for brands such as Burberry, Céline, and Hugo Boss. Focusing on women’s leather and fur outerwear, she gained a knowledge of skins, pelts and other materials, and now based between Istanbul and New York City she prepares to launch her first faux fur collection for Fall. FashionUnited spoke to Onat via email about her driving purpose, fashion that is cruelty-free first.

What motivated you to create this range of outerwear?

I simply decided to provide a voice to the unheard. Animals can speak beyond human language and we need to listen to them. I’ve been a designer all of my working life so, honestly, the only place where I could relay this message was through my atelier and my craft. Creating cruelty-free outerwear is my way of complimenting the beautiful story of life because once you buy or wear a product, you carry the story of that product with you and N’onat’s story is about cherishing life and every creature that breathes. To me, the fur industry feels stuck and, frankly, stale, but there is longevity to my pieces, the designs are timeless and for every type of woman.

Why did you position N’onat in the contemporary market?

As a former designer for luxury brands, I wanted to provide that quality at an affordable price and for the collection to have a large impact commercially and culturally for the audience that is most attuned to our message of “compassionate fashion.”

What influences or inspires the designs beyond cruelty-free?

I am particularly influenced by the fashions of the 1960’s and 70’s – there was an elegance and classic femininity, with a fairly open sexuality, that I admire from that period. I have also been influenced by Ottoman fashion and culture and I expect this influence to be more visible in my future work. However, historical references are not my primary influence. It is life around me and I create fashion for the present as it is being lived today. Perhaps this comes in part from my academic training in social anthropology.

While the industry has largely turned its back on real fur recently in favor of the ethical treatment of animals there are many who view the chemical process behind creating fake fur alternatives as environmentally unethical. How do you address their concerns?

The fur industry is responsible for taking the lives of more than 50 million animals every year, in horrific ways such as drowning, poisoning, gassing or electrocuting. Their brief and painful lives on factory farms aren’t much better than their deaths. We all have choices to make and I made mine by standing up to protect animals and their rights by creating luxury pieces that can be chic and timeless without any killing. As the fur industry is declining and a lot of brands are switching to faux there are these debates, but as time goes on, there will be new developments in the creation of faux furs which will be increasingly environmentally friendly as well as animal-friendly. Our faux furs are almost indistinguishable from the touch and look of real fur and we don’t use cashmere because we are 100% vegan and cruelty-free.

As you prepare to launch, what are your plans for the future of N’onat?

N’onat is the realization of a lifelong dream. After over 25 years at international brands. I know the industry inside and out, in far more practical detail than many current designers. I’ve trained and practiced every job there is in the cycle of apparel development – it’s time for me to put this experience to work in my own brand which I hope will attract and retain the support and respect of a discerning, fashion-forward customer. As a result of feedback we received from men when we first previewed the collection we decided to produce some of the styles as “unisex” and I hope that our future collections will have a similar panoptic appeal. I am very excited about several aspects of what we’re working on, but for the time being the plan is to focus on expanding the business.

Fashion editor Jackie Mallon is also an educator and author of Silk for the Feed Dogs, a novel set in the international fashion industry.

Photos: N’onat