Misela Opens First Manhattan Store In Noho

By now New York City Mayor Eric Adams is infamously known as a big fan of Turkey’s but it also seems Turkey is a fan of the Big Apple. At least when it comes to luxury accessories. Two brands, Misela and Serena Uziyel have both opened retail spaces in the past month as their customer base expands. It also points to the ongoing larger trend of brands focusing on DTC in their own retail spaces whose locations are easily determined based on online data.

For Misela, founded by Serra Türker Bayr, the downtown cool of Bond Street beckoned. The brand’s roots began in New York when Türker Bayr, launched Misela in 2008 with a largely wholesale business model. The brand, whose names refers to the first two letters of Serra and her sisters name, is produced in Turkey and hit the market during the indie accessories boom and garnered prestigious industry recognition, selling at Henri Bendel and Scoop in their heyday. As the brand grew, so did Serra’s as she got married and started a family, she eventually returned to Turkey full time.

By 2012 she had opened her first store in Istanbul. “We started growing the brand there slowly, shifting from wholesale to DTC. The brand got bigger so along the way I wanted to expand internationally, and I opened a boutique in London in 2019,” said Türker Bayr adding, “I always wanted to come back to New York because my heart was always kind of here because I knew this market and this woman, but I was waiting for the right time.”

A hallmark of the brand is its chevron leather pattern which can be customized in various color and stitching details on a variety of totes, carryalls, small leather goods and even suitcases. The made-to-order styles cost the same as items in store and on the shelf.

A whipstitched leather trim also comes in 80 colors to accent the twelve base colors. Initials and the brand’s Eye of the Tiger motif—a design with roots in Ottoman Empire and Eastern philosophy is a modern talisman for strength and vitality—motif can also be added to bags. Once ordered the bags which are made in Turkey, take 15 to 20 days to be created and delivered. Average price points range from $880 for an Edna tote in Anatolia print to the Sienna doctor’s bag style in Los Angeles laser cut pattern for $1,300. Türker Bayr promises a special design for New York.

“I’m a textile designer, originally and I wanted to create this fabric to create timeless handbags. I played around with some designs and I created a zig zag within a Chevron,” she explained.

The brand also features soft leather styles such as quilted styles and laser cut styles that recall architecture motifs. “There’s always a source of inspiration. For example, this I call Theia print which is an alternating diamond pattern,” she explained.

Since opening the store in the UK, Misela has leaned into digital marketing which helped build a US customer base, currently focused on New York and Los Angeles. Meanwhile back at home base, the brand opened a new headquarters in Istanbul, a four-story building with two floors dedicated to selling. A design atelier and headquarters occupy the other two floors.

“We partner with galleries for creative approaches in seasonal room concepts. These have been so loved so we wanted to do the same idea here in New York,” Türker Bayr added.