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Istanbul Fashion Week >>
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Bozcaada >>
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1st Istanbul International Opera Festival >>
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Open Air Museums in Turkey >>
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Success Story
Ayşen Zamanpur: "We spotted the niche and worked on a brand project to fulfill this niche."
 TAIK: You are the founder and the CEO of Silk&Cashmere. Would you share with us the trajectory of your company?
Mrs. Zamanpur: Why Silk and Cashmere? First of all, it has always been interesting how we target the world. I would like underline the fact that, we did not try to brand an already existing product in the market. We have established our brand on a niche, that is, we spotted the niche and worked on a brand project to fulfill this niche. This is very rare and this is our edge.
Before Silk and Cashmere, there were two types of players; Either 60-70 year old aristocratic Scottish, British and Italian producers who were selling in closed circuits with extreme margins or other producers using very low cashmere percentages with other blended wool types and calling relatively lower qualities as cashmere.
What laid in between these two markets was our niche. And the smart, well educated world citizens with an eye on good quality cashmere did not have a brand name. So we projected and established Silk&Cashmere. The catch, however, is that neither silk nor cashmere is available in Turkey.
So we started chasing the cashmere goat in Inner Mongolia of China in 1992. Our story is one of a kind process that can be a best seller fiction if written. On top of it all – we are the first brand name which blended these two valuable yarns and introduced cashmere-silk (kasipek) and based all the strategy solely on these 3 precious materials.
What stood us aside from the main streamline has been our strategy to stay pure on these materials and set the business plan, branding and expansion and thus become a world wide brand name.
TAIK: Please give our readers an idea about the volume of your business.
Mrs. Zamanpur: Currently there are 57 points of purchase world wide including exclusive shops and corners in Barcelona, St. Moritz, Zurich, Moscow, Belgium, Austria, and in a number of other European cities with Tumen-Siberia being the recent one.
We will expand by 7 in 2010. This is an important figure for our high end concept, given that even the 80 year old cashmere brands have only around 30.
TAIK: What type of products your collections include?
Mrs. Zamanpur: Besides the pure cashmere knitwear, coats, overcoats and garments for men and women and pure silk and silk cashmere blouses, shirts, scarves, neckties and shawls, each year we are enlarging our collection by adding up lines like 'Cashmere for Home' covering home textiles, 'Prom Collection' and 'After Dark Collection' for evening and night dresses. The satin silk quilts with pure cashmere filling from the 'Cashmere for Home' collection are the very first in the world and have been very popular in the European market.
TAIK: “Silk&Cashmere” brand has become a case study in the universities? What are the factors that lead your brand to this achievement?
Mrs. Zamanpur: 'Silk & Cashmere' is a brand created after long elaborations, surveys, local and foreign investigations, discussions, negotiations, assessments, judgments, and final decisions. We have been frequently invited by media, universities and other academic institutions, domestic and foreign NGOs, and considerable number of societies and associations of brand-names, businesspersons, entrepreneurs, etc to tell about the success attained by 'Silk & Cashmere' and present our story as an 'entrepreneurship model'. There also has been a remarkable attention from various women’s societies since the president of the business is a woman.
Whilst being publicized in the media and being the topic of various conferences, forums and symposiums held, the success of our brand name have attracted interest in the academic circles.
Consequently, the presence of 'Silk & Cashmere' in the educational arena has started upon its being included in the curriculum of the graduate program of the Business School of Istanbul University as a case study on a "successful entrepreneurship' and has continued on being the subject of dissertations presented 4 times up to now in the graduate schools of well-acknowledged universities.
TAIK: Tell us about the success factors in your trajectory?
Mrs. Zamanpur: 'Silk & Cashmere' has noticed a 'niche' space in the market and by taking the right decision at the right time and has succeeded to enter the market with vigor offering high quality material at reasonable prices. Earlier, there were either high priced quality cashmere brands having stores with aloof, selective, and upper-class nature or department store brands of lower quality which would not be favored by the refined urban segment. 'Silk & Cashmere' has spotted this gap and has been the first brand that took the cashmere out of such unapproachable structure and exposed for sale at shops having warm and genial atmosphere, targeting a wider market. While doing so, 'Silk & Cashmere' has never conceded on the quality and used the best kind of pure fiber obtained from the world re-known cashmere goats of Inner Mongolia in its products.
Using high quality cashmere fibers and at the same time setting reasonable sale prices for the products as the result of its reflecting the advantage obtained from its investment at the homeland of cashmere directly to the customers has attracted considerable interest.
It has boldly chosen only cashmere and silk and blends of these two fibers 'cash-silk' as raw materials for its products and created a new concept by bringing these material together in harmony and put them on sale in a chain of shops and corners.
Directed itself to succeed not only in local scale but in the global market
Targeted a long term and continuous accomplishment, not a short term benefits
The somewhat ossified cashmere market has been dominated by well-known and deep-rooted British and Italian names the newest of which is being at least 50 years old. 'Silk & Cashmere' has been one of the new brands in the field taking the lead to challenge such a solidified market.
TAIK: Is it a coincidence that silk and cashmere have been picked up by the brand as materials?
Mrs. Zamanpur: No. 'Silk & Cashmere' has justified reasons in bringing together the two substantially matching products.
- Both of these materials are natural and healthy to use
- Both are centuries old and their aura is in extreme harmony
- Both are associated with aristocracy, crowns, palaces, dowries and identified with quality, knowledge and experience
- Both have the same homeland
- While one is sold in winter and the other in summer, their blend cash-silk is salable in spring and autumn and this feature attributes them a commercial advantage.
There is no other brand originated from such two harmonious and stimulating materials and their blend, which it has named as cash-silk. 'Silk & Cashmere' is a trademark of Fabeks Foreign Trade Co.
TAIK: Finally how could you describe ‘Silk & Cashmere' in few words?
Mrs. Zamanpur: Silk & Cashmere is a Turkish brand, which figured out the worldwide tendencies considerably well, amalgamated the opportunities and possibilities with vulnerabilities and restraints of the business and, observing a market niche at the right time, formed a joint venture abroad in 1992 subsequent to proper assessment, and now progressing with resolute steps to be a world brand.
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