Yazbukey Keeps on Giving
By
February 10, 2010
If you ask me, the perfect Valentine’s Day present is in Paris and it’s one of the few things in this globally saturated world that can still be had only here: Yazbukey’s limited-edition gift box of Ladurée cherry macaroons, available while they last at Colette. It was sisters Yaz and Emel Kurhan, you might recall, who devoted their entire Fall 2009 accessories collection to Sebastian Tellier and his electrojazz hit “Roche.” A bust of France’s chubby bearded neo-crooner features in one of Yazbukey’s giant sparkly Plexiglas medallions as well as other accessories meant for ladies like them who wear their hearts on their sleeves.
As for Ladurée, Yaz says it has always been one of her fantasies. “When you say Paris, I think of Ladurée,” she says. “We chose Cherry because it reminds Emel and I of our childhood in Turkey. And we put them in a gift box because that’s our classic bag.” In passing Yaz revealed some of her thoughts on the romantic day. “I received my first Valentine’s Day gift when I was 11 or 12. It was a red plastic rose,” she recalls. Valentine’s Day in her native Turkey is “very tacky,” Yaz admits. “It’s red, red, red everywhere and I refuse to be taken out to dinner.” And as for the most romantic thing that has ever happened to her: “A boyfriend some time ago was crazy about my legs and so he took out an insurance policy for them. That was so romantic.”
Yaz herself is in New York putting the last minute touches on the accessories for Zac Posen‘s show, set for Monday morning at 9 AM at the Altman building. And she’s just finished collaborating with him on a bag collection for Z Spoke, his second line. 2010 is the 10th anniversary of Yazbukey and Yaz and Emel are planning to celebrate that with 10 events this year ending up with a celebratory book about it all. Yazbukey will also be collaborating with other brands. The next one up is Barbie (Mattel) and then a candle for Cire Trudon. There’s also a home accessories collection in the works to debut at Paris’s Maison et Objet show next September.
