Gönül Paksoy: Where Ancient Silk Meets Contemporary Vision
Gönül Paksoy was eleven when she was sent to boarding school, and told, in effect, that the time for making things was over. She redirected herself to chemistry, and later to a doctorate examining root dye chemistry. That impulse to make, however, found its way back, surfacing eventually in garments that carry the same spirit of careful, considered creation she was once asked to set aside. In Paksoy's world, very little stays lost.
Gönül Paksoy as featured in 'The Alchemist', Selvedge Issue 7, Uniform. Left: Raw silk jacket, detail. Right: Reversible shawl made from silk and silver thread, various weaves.
That instinct to restore and refuse abandonment runs through everything she makes. Her Istanbul atelier, established in the late 1980s, works with antique Ottoman textiles that other hands might consider too fragile or too finished to touch. Paksoy deconstructs and re-dyes them, folding them into new garments without diminishing what they were. "I re-infuse life into those things that have been abandoned and are about to disappear," she has said.
Lush antique silks and velvets are recreated anew by Gönül Paksoy.
The science never left her. The colours in a Paksoy garment, derived from plants, roots, and minerals, are the result of the same careful inquiry she once applied in a laboratory. What looks like intuition is also deep knowledge. Structure follows an equally rigorous logic: inspired by the geometry of Sufi dervish garments, her patterns are built around a zero-waste principle where every piece of cloth is accounted for and every cut is purposeful. Sustainability, for Paksoy, predates the conversation.
Gönül Paksoy, Silk Jacket With Floral Pattern, crafted from patterned silk combined with raw silk, bringing together contrasting textures within a composed, wearable form.
The garments themselves accumulate technique the way a life accumulates experience. Layered silk, handwoven cloth, velvet, ikat, and felt are pieced, collaged, and built up into compositions that reward close looking, each fabric chosen for what it contributes to the whole. Hand-finishing, quilting, appliqué, and stitching leave their marks visibly and honestly. The result is clothing of great presence. "I do not make garments with the sole intention of having them worn," she has said, and yet they live well in the wearing. They ask only that the wearer slow down a little, and pay attention.
Gönül Paksoy, ensemble comprising a gold and olive jacket with applied botanical detail and hanging talisman, worn over a deep burgundy silk shirt and a naturally dyed striped silk skirt.
What unites every piece is a sense of cultural continuity. Paksoy draws on a vast personal collection of objects, from archaeological beads to Ottoman talismans, and that collecting sensibility carries into the garments themselves. Each one absorbs references without displaying them, wearing its influences the way a person wears their history: present, but not announced. To own a Paksoy piece is to enter into that longer conversation, between maker and material, between past and present, between the things we preserve and the things we allow to change.
Above: Gönül Paksoy, Silk Woven Jacket. Below: Wrap-Around Colour-Blocked Silk Skirt
We are delighted to welcome Gönül Paksoy to the Selvedge Artisan Goods shop, where a careful selection of her garments is now available alongside our wider collection of textiles, objects, and works by makers who share her commitment to craft, integrity, and the considered life.
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Further Information:
Discover more from Gönül Paksoy at the Selvedge Artisan Goods shop.
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Image Credits:
Lead: Gönül Paksoy, Silk Ikat Dress
All further images courtesy of Gönül Paksoy and as credited in captions.