VÍSIR: The Fashion Start-up – Inspired By Immigrant Heritage
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George Taylor
- 19th April 2022
- 7 minute read
VISIR is a brand new fashion start-up that’s co-owned by two ambitious female pioneers who aspire to disrupt B2C retail, by drawing on their immigrant heritage.
VÍSIR = simplistic, impactful style choices for women.
The brand boasts a rich range of comfortable capsule collections, that have been designed to be mixed and matched with ease. These contemporary capsule collections provide easy style choices for women, a vision born out of necessity for it’s multitasking owners.
VISIR is the birth-child of two North London natives, Ceylan Agirbay and Yesim Ayebe. Ceylan and Yesim drew inspiration for their collection from their Turkish Cypriot heritage, and the life experiences of their mothers.
“Our mums immigrated to London in the 1970’s,” said Ceylan And Yesim. “They were motivated women, with a strong sense of style, but they didn’t have access to the opportunities we do today. We always wonder what might have been if they had the privileges we now enjoy as second-generation immigrants.”
VÍSIR takes its name from the Icelandic word ‘Vegvisir,’ meaning ‘that which shows the way.’ The name pays homage to the immigrant journeys of the owners’ mothers. “VÍSIR is an expression of the immigrant journey, and the courage it takes to begin and commit to a new start,” added Ceylan And Yesim.
Ceylan Agirbay is a 34-year old mum, who has been building a career in ecommerce for 7+ years. Having previously worked at a wholesale fashion brand for four years, before moving into an ecommerce role in media, she studied film and media at University, and she’s always had a creative mind: she spent most of her childhood creating games, and making things out of the off-cuts her mum would use, whilst seamstressing from home.
Yesim Ayebe is 27, a full time teacher who worked alongside Ceylan for a couple of years at the same wholesale brand before she embarked on her teacher training (something she had always wanted to do, because she wanted to teach textiles). Having a fashion degree, and an upbringing around making garments, she loves the technical elements of constructing clothes, and choosing fabrics.
Ceylan and Yesim have been teasing consumers with snippets of what to expect across social media in recent weeks, with the first orders being shipped out earlier on this month.
Find out more here: https://visironline.co.uk