Bossa on 65 Years of Denim Innovation
Turkey’s historic textile hub Adana serves as the backdrop to a story of spinning and weaving that goes back centuries. With the establishment of the then state-owned Sumerbank in 1933, private enterprises stimulated by government incentives bloomed in the early 1950s, enabling Turkey to transition its textile business into the modern age. One of the benefactors of this expansion was Bossa. With 65 years in the denim industry, Bossa has made a name for itself through its continued innovation and impressive mastery of high-quality, premium fabrics.
Over the years, the company has expanded both vertically and horizontally, crafting a wide range of materials from denim and shirting to corduroy and home textiles. In recent years Bossa has made sustained efforts at broadening its denim and sportswear businesses, reallocating resources to bolster these categories.
The company is as ambitious as ever, and for Spring ’17 is rolling out several new lines in key categories. According to Bossa Product Manager Ozgur Yazkurt, TENCEL® and Lenzing Modal® are essential to the collections, which center around the theme of touch, with a focus on soft, sumptuous fabrics and innovative construction, as well as performance fabrics with functionalities.
“Touch is the first sense, the most primal, powerful and subtle,” says Yazkurt. “We experience the world with the tips of our fingers, the brush of a shoulder, the stroke of our lips and the weight beneath our feet. We bask in the glow of the sun, shiver against the bitter cold, and feel comfortable in those we love with a warm embrace all through with powerful and emotional connection of touch. This is the starting point of our “Life is a Journey” concept. TENCEL® and Lenzing Modal® are among the key elements in this regard.”
One of the concepts central to Bossa’s vision for Spring ’17; “Life is a Journey” is a comfortable denim collection that at the same time includes high-performance characteristics, visualising one’s “journey” through life. Multi-way stretch, soft handles, loose constructions, power stretch, stay black fabrics, and ultra-blue colors define this collection.
Another concept, “Somebody to Love,” draws on the 1970’s, recalling the rebellious, peaceful, loving, artistic and carefree Bohemian style of hippies. High-waist fits in rigid and stretch forms dominate, available in an array of lighter color washes. These are best exemplified in Bossa’s MX and XPLAY items, featuring MX fabrics which provide elongation while keeping shape retention.
New for spring, the “Craft” family of items are described as “unusual”, featuring unique constructions of denim fabrics. “The spirit of these fabrics is coming from the past, but reshaping the future of denim. These skillfully constructed fabrics will provide hand woven textured looks,” says Yazkurt.
But while making comfortable and stylish jeans is Bossa’s main priority, the company has also been making efforts to reduce its impact on the environment. Bossa recently commissioned an LCA study, investing in SimoPro LCA software to assess the impact of its fabrics. Among the study’s finds, it found that when 30 percent recycled cotton is used in a 10-ounce denim fabric, it reduces water depletion by 20 percent.
Bossa’s sustainability efforts are best seen in the company’s RE-SET collection. It is an organic line using performance fibers and yarns with sustainable benefits, including NEW LIFE recycled PES and SCAFE PES yarns with recycled coffee beans.
“Every season we try to expand and make a valuable addition to its RE-SET collection. Less water use, more sustainable dyeing and finishing processes are among our priorities when designing new fabrics for our collection,” said Yazurt. “Today, Bossa proudly offers a wide range of products made with organic cotton, recycled cotton, BCI cotton, GMO free Turkish cotton, recycled PES and other sustainable fibers, such as TENCEL®. The recycled cotton we use are opened from our own trash, waste yarns and fabrics.”
Carved in Blue: What was your first pair of jeans?
Ozgur: It was my early college days in the mid-80s. I don’t remember what my first pair of jeans were exactly, but they were probably from a local tailor. I clearly remember some details. They were loose-cut, high-waisted with a zipper fly and embarrasing zippers sewn by my mother inside the cuffs to protect them from the heels of my shoes. A few years later, I bought exactly the opposite—a cool one—boot cut with a low waist, button fly nad no more zippers inside the cuffs. I didn’t throw away my first jeans though, I cut their legs off and made them a pair of shorts. It was so cool under my Metallica T-shirts that summer.
Carved in Blue: How did you start in the business?
Ozgur: I studied textile engineering in the 1990s, when textile was the most popular business in Turkey. I started working for Bossa in 2001. Since then, I’ve worked in the company’s various businesses, from smartwear to denim, with different responsibilities from sales to product development and management. I’ve had precious experiences with the company and have enjoyed every second of these 15 years.
Carved in Blue: If you had to pick one fit to live in forever–which would it be?
Ozgur: This is not [possible] for me–I can’t live in anything forever. I am in my 40s now. I’m not the same person I was when I was in my 30s and I will not be the same person in my 50s. I appreciate the value of classics, but everthing needs to be evolved and improved, get better and better.
Carved in Blue: How has the industry changed from when you first started?
Ozgur: The industry has changed dramatically in line with new, emerging customer needs and expectations. Now, not only do the cost and design matter, but also innovative performance and the sustainability of the products are key to attracting a customer’s attention. The product life cycles are now extremely short, every product gets out with a dizzying speed and this makes the lives of people in the industry incredibly difficult.
Carved in Blue: What is the one thing you love about our industry?
Ozgur: What we produce is, indeed, a simple product—we are not launching a spaceship in the end. But what we produce is for people, for any of us, anywhere in the world and it is personal. Especially, indigo, the living dye, which creates a unique look personal to each person. You can see the same product in Europe, the U.S. and Asia on different people and none of them are same. They are unique to each person.
Carved in Blue: What does “carved in blue” mean to you?
Ozgur: Carved in Blue represents dedication to denim people and to sustainability.