Under 25
The sharp line that what we want from life and what we already have emerges when we are 25 years old. After that time, we start to hold close ties with reality and come to terms with life. Is this a journey to the days where we were interpreting life with our own words without giving away to the course of time and maybe as a definition with a little cliche but the real: giving color in these days or is it an awakening? How do you define the years leading up to 25s? We loved Emre, Helin, Berkcan, Daren, İlayda, Attila, Hande and Efe’s unique approach the most. Come, join us.
HANDE TAŞER, INFLUENCER
How much space does social media take up in your life?
Hande Taşer: I adapted social media into my life very much because I don’t think that it is a “negative” or a time-consuming thing. It is a visually rich world. It makes me able to reach out a designer I like, an illustrator I appreciate or people whose style I can be inspired by. I think following the latest agenda is the most important point for someone who aspires to be a designer.
You use expressions that makes fun of being an “influencer” in your posts, do these expressions create a reaction?
Hande Taşer: Actually, what I am making fun of is not the term “influencer” or the people who do this job. It is the fact that people who are not influencers see this job as this exaggerated thing that I portray to make fun of. Everyone wants to go somewhere nice, they enjoy it and then take a picture of it and EVERYONE does it. Your next door neighbour shares her coffee too. We all love social media equally. Even the person who doesn’t post has a “stalk” account but If a person shares those photos in better colours and to a bigger audience, the person becomes “an addict”. I usually get negative reactions from the people who don’t understand that I am joking and say “but you are doing the same”.
People predict that, with Generation Z, the demand for conventional professions will decrease immensely and this bothers the economic environment, what do you think about that?
Hande Taşer: Every period has rising new trends including jobs. I know that social media is one of those trends and it will change and be replaced by a new one or it will be most efficient for a certain age group. That’s why I think you should have a career that will stand the test of time. Those are not temporary jobs. School is always a top priority in my life.
Do you think that social media is making personal connections more hollow?
Hande Taşer: It depends on the person. I know people who act calculated and befriends people for the network but I guess I use social media connections effectively. I have made friends that I would have no problem getting along with because we both like to go to the same places and can laugh together. It is a very rich place and it includes friendships.
What does the term “new generation” means to you?
Hande Taşer: I take the term “new generation” not as an age range but as a term for a group of people who improve themselves and keep up with time. I think every individual who keeps up with the next generation technologies, art and communications is considered to be the “new generation”.
DAREN GEREDE ERKAYA, DESIGNER/MODEL
How did you become a model?
Daren Gerede Erkaya: Everything happened suddenly. I started with my siblings.
What changed after you returned from Bali?
Daren Gerede Erkaya: Two different lives… I was living a different life in Bali and a different one in İstanbul. I am happy because I like both of them. Bali is like a never enging vacation and Istanbul is in the middle of the city life…
What do you think about all this attention to your family? Are there times when you are overwhelmed and tired?
Daren Gerede Erkaya: No, never!
We learned that you and your twin Dilan are working on your own brand, would you give us a clue?
Daren Gerede Erkaya: All I can say right now is that you must wait.
We believe that we are moving towards a point where individuals will choose their careers rather than exams, what do you say?
Daren Gerede Erkaya: We are at a time where people are mature enough to make their own decisions. We are starting to build our own life, and this make me feel excited!
What does the term “new generation” makes you think?
Daren Gerede Erkaya: A lot will change in the world!
EFE SORARLI, MODEL
Can we say that Turkish fashion has became globalized?
Efe Sorarlı: Fashion is already in a state of change and progress in terms of globality. Turkish fashion is keeping up with this change pretty well and with keeping up comes globalization.
You walked a lot of runways in the last fashion week. What do you think about MBFWI?
Efe Sorarlı: Fashion week has always been a tiring but also a fun experience for me. To walk and also to watch my friends walk has always been a great pleasure. The friendships you create in the backstage never wear off.
Modelling is seen as a transition or a temporary job rather than the main career for people including most models. What do you comment on this?
Efe Sorarlı: The reason why people don’t see modelling as a main career is the inconsistent nature of the job. It is very hard and quite risky to trust this job to plan a future.
What does the term “new generation” makes you think?
Efe Sorarlı: I feel lucky to grew up in a time where technology did not hold us captive as it does now.
ATTİLA MORA, MUSICIAN/MODEL
How did you discover your inclination for music?
Attila Mora: Music is something that lives within all of us. It’s a boundless way of communicating. Everything has vibrational energy
but music is a vibration that we can not only feel but hear. It has the power to drastically change emotions, increase or decrease your heart rate and can be understood by everyone. Painting the years with certain colours and textures. Music acts as a soundtrack to our lives. For me, it was an obsession for creating my own soundtrack. Listening was something I enjoyed but creating is something I needed to breathe. Music soon became a ritual that started from an obsession.
From making music to modelling you have such a multidisciplinary career, how do you deal with balancing two totally different things?
Attila Mora: Saying no is the hardest skill I’ve had to learn this year. But it’s allowed me to do more of what I’m truly passionate about and allowed me to work with talents I truly respect in both music and fashion.
A song that defines you?
Attila Mora: Dave Brubeck fused jazz with Traditional Turkish time signature and rhythm creating Blue Rondo à la Turk. This song showed me how one man can push a genre like jazz genre into a different lane. So ultimately the song helped me define the impact I want to make on music.
How does it feel having a platform to present your creativity without boundaries?
Attila Mora: I live every day with complete gratitude. With today’s unlimited access to information and the world as a platform to share ideas on. It means you can literally create anything and find someone that will listen to it. So now there is no excuse not to create.
How does making music and having an online presence changes your point of view on the power of social media?
Attila Mora: It shows me that I don’t need to be defined by genre. That I can guide my career which way I like. Because people are interested in the things I create, not the boxes that traditional media builds for us.
What do you think of the word ‘new gen’?
Attila Mora: From living in Budapest and Istanbul to travelling to over 10 cities in 1 year from Milan to Tokyo, I can see ‘new gen’ is slightly different here than anywhere else in the world. This generation holds a complex balance of ideas. They want radical change but without throwing away history. We are more spiritual but less religious. We work smart not hard. The new generation is not bound by age. When people guess my age the answers have ranged from 21 all the way up to the late 30s. The confusion lies in the way we work, we have fun like kids but we work like Generals. Calculated and cut- throat. We look like we don’t care but we watch every move that others make and act accordingly. Theirs have never been a generation, that can be anything or anyone overnight.
İLAYDA AKDOĞAN, ACTRESS
How did you start acting?
İlayda Akdoğan: My journey started with my mon sending my pictures to a magazine. One of the crew members of the magazine that I had been modelling with asked, to my mom of course, if I’d consider being an actor. After she accepted, I auditioned for a part in the new show of Hamdi Alkan. I got the part and here I am.
What are the perks of converting your talent to a career?
İlayda Akdoğan: It puts you on a never-ending path. You have the chance to challenge yourself with new experiences and sensations as your age progresses. You stay in the zone by exerting yourself to be one step further. This makes me love what I do. You do your job with pleasure.
We think that Generation Z overlooks the difference between acting and popularity. What is your comment on this?
İlayda Akdoğan: Being an actor brings about fame and popularity. Yes, acting is one of the most wanted professions in our generation but most people just have stars in their eyes. They want the fame and the popularity that comes with being an actor rather than having a passion for it. Even if it is fun in the short-term, in the long-term, you will realize that it is hard to bear if you don’t love what you do.
Are you one of the actors that are able to watch themselves on the screen?
İlayda Akdoğan: Yes! Even though I criticize my self harshly, I have to watch my self because I have to face not just with how it makes me feel but also with how it looks on the screen.
What are your criteria for evaluating a role?
İlayda Akdoğan: Primarily the feeling. How it makes me feel and the fact that it excites me is the most important.
How are your silver screen dreams shaping up after taking part in an unforgettable movie such as Mustang?
İlayda Akdoğan: Mustang was a movie with a powerful social message. To be able to touch people from all around the world is a whole another feeling. It increased my sense of responsibility and also my awareness. It was a project that I really loved being in and felt satisfied with. I want to be involved more often
in projects which have scenarios that have a message, that speak a different language but make you feel the same, and perhaps maybe one of them will be written by me!
What does the term “new generation” makes you think?
İlayda Akdoğan: Despite being exciting, I feel like it is a stereotypical term that people uses to criticize. There are a lot of factors to criticize because we live in an age where consuming plays
a bigger part than producing. Everyone expects innovations to come from the new generation, however, improvement has no age limit. We can look into it, be inspired by it and take steps that will take us further instead of counting on “the new generation” to complain about stuff.
EMRE PAKEL, DESIGNER
Is Turkey the right place to be a fashion designer and to what extent?
Emre Pakel: It is a very good place for a designer to be able to work in a local scale, even though It is a tough place to create a fashion sense or to produce a brand in a global scale. We have a lot of companies who manufacture for world-famous brands in different locations. We are at a point where it is very significant to emphasize the importance of local designers. This is our only handicap.
How does everyone having opinions about fashion affect your professional relations?
Emre Pakel: Everyone having opinions about fashion is very nice. Creating a fashion sense is actually teamwork. Everyone has an opinion, from the producer to the consumer, shows you how powerful an engine can get which will take you further.
What are your comments on the relationship between designer and social media?
Emre Pakel: Nowadays, social media is right in the centre of our lives. Keeping up with the modern-day is through social media. This is the trend now but I am curious about what is waiting for us in the future.
How important it is that your designs are able to adapt in everyday life for you?
Emre Pakel: When I wanted to combine the artistic and the commercial aspect of my collections, I came up with the idea of designing “street avant-garde” pieces. This way, I was going to be able to gain new experiences with avant-garde pieces and also find a place in the market with street style clothing. I think we explain this dilemma best with Pakel’s motto “based on earth”.
Any advice for the ones who want to be a fashion designer?
Emre Pakel: It may sound so cliche but it is very important for them to know themselves. It is not possible to improve something you don’t know, without knowing yourself.
What does the term “new generation” makes you think?
Emre Pakel: Innovation, change and power.
HELİN KANDEMİR, ACTRESS
When did you start acting?
Helin Kandemir: I started when I acted in a hidden camera prank. Then I continued to be in different projects but with the guidance of my parents, I decided to wait to get a little older. I continued where I left off with “İsimsizler” in 2016.
What are the perks of converting your talent to a career?
Helin Kandemir: It is a very privileged experience to discover my talent at a very young age and then turning it into a career. I love being active and I really enjoy what I do. I am 15 years old and I am at the bottom of the ladder. I don’t know what time will show but I always want to picture myself in a better place than I was before.
How did your family react to your decision of becoming an actor?
Helin Kandemir: My family has always been very supportive of that. I am growing up with experiencing even mistakes. My family’s sensitivity to my job is making me feel more motivated.
Attending to the Berlin Film Festival is most actors’ dream, as a person who experienced this dream, how was your experience?
Helin Kandemir: I have never felt this exited before. I have met beautiful people, watched beautiful movies and learned a lot of things. To receive recompense for our efforts is very rewarding for our whole team.
Kız Kardeşler has been the star of Istanbul Film Festival and you’ve become the youngest person who received the award for “The Best Actress”. Does this make you want to follow even bigger dreams?
Helin Kandemir: Kız Kardeşler has been a very big success. It is a very proud experience. I really wasn’t expecting to win the award. It is a bigger honour to share this award with my sisters. I can say that it made me very excited and motivated for the future. You hang onto life by dreaming for bigger things.
How do you balance work and school?
Helin Kandemir: It is very difficult to balance work and school, but it works out if you move planned. I worked very intensely during the show. In this period, I took extra classes. Of course, you can’t have everything at the same time. Sometimes I had to sacrifice my social life, my sleep and some other things but I am not complaining. I even think that these kinds of responsibilities make me more mature.
What is waiting for you in the future?
Helin Kandemir: I always renovate myself. When I watch one of my scenes I usually say like “I can do better than that now”. I am after what’s different not popularity. There are movies I want to watch, books I want to read, languages I want to learn. All I need is plenty of time and a little bit of patience.
BERKCAN GÜVEN, YOUTUBER
What are your criteria for creating content for Youtube?
Berkcan Güven: I think the answer to this question changes as time passes by. There are huge differences between the videos I did and the videos I am making now. In a field where time moves so quickly and everything is consumed and changed so fast, my number one priority is to do something different. Of course, there is some content that we are inspired by or adapt but essentially, what I really pay attention is innovativeness.
What does sincerity mean to you?
Berkcan Güven: I associate sincerity with being who you are. I mean if someone loves you, they love you for who you are. I think a person who loves and accepts herself/himself will be considered sincere for everyone. But especially on social media, it is possible to create a profile with just pictures and comments. I am I guess it is a little different to figure out someone’s sincerity online. I believe that I am sincere and because of that, the people who love me and follow me are still supporting me.
How important are your family and friends in your content?
Berkcan Güven: I started filming videos at a very young age. The content I created back then were created with this mentality. I was spending most of my time with my family at that time and, therefore, they were a big part of my videos. As I grew up, my friends have become involved in this equation because this time I am spending most of my time with them. Now, my family is not present in my videos as they used to be. Things have changed with my mom getting older and Baran growing up. My friends are still a big part of my content.
How was the reaction of your circle on your decision to become a Youtuber?
Berkcan Güven: There was no such thing as being a “Youtuber” back then, at least not so accepted and known as today. It is still not well-accepted now. Despite this, my family have always been supportive of what I want to do. My friends reacted well too because fun is a big part of it.
How much the comments on your social media pages effect you?
Berkcan Güven: I can’t say it does not affect me but as time passes you start to care less. By comments, I mean the ones that are downright mean rather than just negative opinions about me. The more I stay in this business the more I understand the fact that social media is “a social medium”. People think that it is okay to write things on social media that you can’t say in the real world but it is not true. I believe this will change in the future. Other than that, reading positive comments, of course, make me happy.
What does the term “new gen” mean to you?
Berkcan Güven: I think that especially the youth of today is the best generation that has ever been. Our lifestyle has changed completely since we entered the new millennium and we live in a time when technology has become a way of life. I believe that the generation that has grown up in this age has a different perception of the world. This can have both pros and cons but this period is very advanced in terms of education. I think that this generation will put an end to the problems of the world. Because we are able to connect and hear each other’s voices. We share our opinions and feel empathy with each other.
Do you have an expectation for the future in your works?
Berkcan Güven: I am not concerned about the future. I love and receive love about what I do. I am sure that as I see this love and also love what I do, I will continue to do it. But I am on a journey which I don’t know where it leads.
Is it critical that you receive approval from your social environment?
Berkcan Güven: I am not seeking validation apart from the things that I want to prove to myself.