STEPEVI | Exclusive Global Partner of MARKA London
In October, MARKA arrived in London for the first time with a Capsule Edition devoted to the ideas and cultural shifts shaping 21st-century luxury, and to what they mean for the way we live, consume and create.
Each session offered a fresh angle, and conversations moved freely between disciplines, sparking links from one talk to the next. Guiding the programme was creative entrepreneur BJ Cunningham, who has moderated MARKA since its beginnings in 2000 and who brought the day’s central insights to the fore.
Experience, Craft and the Power of Touch
The Design Museum in London played host, with a keynote from internationally acclaimed artist and designer Es Devlin opening the programme. In conversation with the museum’s chief curator, Johanna Agerman Ross, Es Devlin drew on her work across theatre productions, music tours and public art installations to explain her commitment to designing around communal experience that fosters real-world connection: “The terms of engagement that I learned in theatre are that you gather, you turn your phone off, and you pay attention.”
Surrounding the speakers was an evocative installation by textile artist Alfhild Külper. Speaking with artist and designer Tom Atton Moore, whose practice explores the memories and sense of connection held within rugs, “which are something really familiar to us all,” Külper reflected: “Feeling with our eyes, hands, feet, and bodies is so important, and we lose this in a world where we live behind layers and layers of glass.”
This call for culture we can see and touch in everyday life carried into the session led by STEPEVI’s president, Ayşegül Yürekli Şengör, and managing director, Ayşe Şengör Onger. They shared how they turned a historic carpet brand into a contemporary cultural leader, with investment in design and craftsmanship serving as a means of cultural progress and exchange.
Hospitality, Cities and Creative Communities
Emotion’s central role in contemporary culture shaped a series of hospitality-focused talks. Interior designer Shayne Brady, journalist Dylan Jones and restaurateur Jeremy King shared their perspectives on creating restaurants that respond to a range of moods and moments.
The focus then widened from the restaurant to the city, as the link between urban planning and contemporary luxury took centre stage. Brand strategist and journalist Çağdaş Ertuna sat down with creative director Alex Eagle to talk about designing interiors for 180 The Thames, a major residential, hotel and cultural development in central London. Later, Ertuna was joined by developer Harry Handlesman, the creator of London’s celebrated Chiltern Firehouse hotel, for a discussion on why architecture should be woven into its wider surroundings.
In conversation with creative director and journalist Tony Chambers, architect Kent Jackson of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill examined how technological innovation can drive more sustainable construction, from carbon-sequestering materials to circular design principles. Industrial designer Sebastian Conran took the thread further, considering the potential of AI and robotics in society and questioning the tech industry’s urge to build machines in our own image.
Cultural entrepreneur Caroline Rush joined Annie Doble, founder of the vintage fashion boutique Annie’s Ibiza, and DJ Fat Tony, a celebrated producer, DJ and activist, to explore what it takes to nurture a thriving, multidisciplinary creative scene. In the same inclusive spirit, and honouring MARKA’s Istanbul roots, artist Seda Gazioğlu, hospitality entrepreneur Cem Mirap and İrem Kınay, founder of the luxury lifestyle brand Madame Malachite, turned the spotlight on the city’s distinctive creative character, from the lively energy of its bazaars to the bridges linking the two continents it spans.
This look at the Istanbul Effect captured the spirit of the whole day: MARKA London carried the free-flowing creative dialogue of its home city into a new setting, forging connections across countries, disciplines and generations.
