Attitude, Balance and Harmony: Alkon’s 20th Anniversary

WE LOVE OUR JOB. I mean, we really do love our job very much. What is our job? Classic menswear and shoes. No other line of business in the world can come up with such a vast diversity of products using so few parameters and so few colors. ALKON has been in this business for 20 years. In the course of these 20 years we have never ran out of ideas and never had a single boring collection. Why? Let me explain with two essential pieces; jackets and shoes. These are pieces we have to wear almost every day and we enjoy wearing them. We do not sell red suits or purple shoes yet and I will not even get into things like linings, fabrics or buttons where we enjoy almost infinite diversity. However we play with so many parameters within the scope of the term “classic” and they make such big differences that we completely redefine high style every season. Let’s take a closer look at them if you will. I’m sure you will pay a lot more attention to these details from now on and perhaps you will retire or shelve some pieces you own.

• Collar: The width and the curve of the collar, the place and shape of the cut, where the collar ends (the break line) and consequently the position of the waistline.
• Shoulders: Shoulder type, shoulder seam type, shoulder seam allowance, shoulder pitch, the height and form of the shoulder pads.
• Sleeves: Armhole marking method, the shape of the armhole, how the sleeve flows, sleeve volume, top to bottom shape of the sleeve, sleeve hem.
• Buttonholes: Stitched or unstitched, how many buttonholes will be stitched and how many will be left open, how soft, thin or tight they will be, the distance between buttonholes.
• Pockets: The shape and the pitch of the peto pocket, the size of the pocket flaps, the gauge and precision of pocket flap corners.
• Canvas: Whether to use an interlining (or a construction) or not, the material, weight, dryness or softness of the interlining, the interlinings adaptability to the climate and humidity, the interlining’s compatibility to the weight and elasticity of the fabric.
• Seams: Thread type, material and thickness, thread color, the distance between the stitches and the fringes of the garment, stitch frequency.

All these details come together and create an “attitude”, an “expression”. And that unique attitude quietly describes you even better than words. We believe a perfect jacket means harmony and balance. And it can only be achieved by taking into account the nearly 50 parameters I mentioned. These small details differentiate us from others with bold lines.

Shoes are the same. You can find a variety of shoes at our eight stores made with different techniques such as Blake, Goodyear, Goodyear Welted, Norvegese, Bolognese, Tubular etc. We also offer various fittings; you can easily choose a pair of shoes that fit your feet like a glove from four different shoe fittings, namely E, F, G and H. Moreover, ALKON chooses the leather material and color of the insole and the outsole, the color and model of the shoelace (if any), and the colors of seams and pipings for you, to present you authentic and original shoes in our stores in İstanbul and Ankara, that are different from those sold at the brands’ stores in other countries.

Such details are inherent in our business. But there are also other things that do not necessarily come with the job, but we do anyway, in the best possible way. These are our little “follies” so to speak, the most fun aspects of our job. Some of our latest such works that we’ve sold are as follows;

• An electric bicycle frame coated in alligator skin
• An alligator skin and silver chess set
• An alligator skin and silver backgammon set
• Cigar accessories in alligator skin and Venezia leather
• Products made of alligator skin with carbon and rubber finishes
• Alligator skin leather belts with gold and diamond buckles
• Cashmere, silk or alligator skin tracksuits
• Suits made with Super 250’s fabrics, 100% Vicuna jackets, coats, blousons and outerwear
• Sunglasses with 100% gold frames
• Alligator skin pillowcases
• 100% Eiderdown quilts
• 3000 Thread Count bedlinens
• Shirts made of 340/4 fabric

We hope to be with you for many 20 years to come, and to hand down the tradition of high style to new generations…