Founder and Creative Director of Les BenjaminsBunyamin Aydin is the Istanbul-based designer redefining modern streetwear. A brand that looks both forward and backward for inspiration, Les Benjamins’ latest collection pays homage to the explosive energy of the Turkish psychedelic rock scene of the ’70s whilst simultaneously capturing the rebellious spirit of youth culture today.
The art of storytelling is at the heart of Les Benjamins’ ethos. Every piece is an invitation to a world that blends the past, present and future of fashion, resulting in collections that above all celebrate the beauty found within juxtaposition. Les Benjamins’ aesthetic is truly unique in its ability to merge a respect of tradition with an unapologetic sense of modernity. Schön! caught up with Aydin to hear about everything from his broad range of cultural influences to what’s next for Les Benjamins.
Introduce us to the collection we see in these photos. What inspired this series of works?
The psychedelic rock movement in Turkey in the ’70s. Most people don’t know the artists Baris Manco, Cem Karaca, 3 Hurel, Mogullular, and more. It’s just crazy to see that there is music that is both very rooted to Turkish tradition and also a western aesthetic. It’s very similar to the DNA of Les Benjamins.
This collection clearly has a lot of cultural influences, blending Americana with Eastern design and more. How do you think being based in an international city like Istanbul influences your work?
Istanbul is more than just an international city. It divided East and West, which has the boiling energy of both. This really inspired me to design in thought of juxtaposition.
Speaking of Americana, you also recently debuted a collaboration with Coca Cola. Why did you choose to centre your collab on football?
I grew up in Germany in a small town called Neuss. My mother and father would take me to football training at age six like many Turkish-German kids, going back to my childhood.
There’s heavy emphasis on the ’80s and ’90s through this collection. What do you find so inspirational about this period of time?
I feel like in general I want to live in the ’80s these days. With the fast world and digitalisation, you want to slow down and become more analog. I guess as a designer the ’80s inspired me a lot.
The past few years have been filled with collaborations for your brand. How does designing for a collaboration differ from designing for your own label?
Empathy is key. You can’t just think of yourself and your own brand. I love doing collaborations that have a real story. It’s exciting because through the merger you create a new message.
You’ve said you are “a platform of how we want the East to be today.” What does that statement mean to you, and how does it influence the brand?
Supporting the youth culture in Istanbul has always been one of our most important concentrations. There are many artists, musicians, and creatives in Istanbul, but they need guidance and recognition. We use our power of communication and digital platforms to shoot editorials, write blogs, and [create] events to promote the local talent. It’s all about growing together. The bigger the creative scene gets in Istanbul, the more proud and supportive we can be.
How have you seen streetwear change since you entered the industry as a designer?
I started my brand in 2011 and I was part of the boom of many luxury streetwear brands. We all grew in our regions. I think it’s exciting to see how we all add to a bigger movement. Pharell, Nigo, Kanye, and Virgil opened a lot of doors for the acceptance of street culture in big fashion houses, which allows the movement to grow quicker. Now streetwear is more than a trend; it’s an aesthetic. It’s the acceptance of wearing what you want, when you want.
pullover. Ottolinger
skirt + shoes. Ann Demeulemeester
pullover. Ottolinger
skirt + shoes. Ann Demeulemeester
Credits
Oklou is living an intense moment of change. There’s a euphoric energy around all the new steps. When we speak to the Paris-dwelling artist Oklou – the moniker of Marylou Mayniel – on set with Schön! in the Parisian suburbs, she’s in full prep mode, on the cusp of the release of her first full length album, choke enough. She is beaming; brings with her tranquillity and presence. With her ethereal, electronic sound, Oklou conquered hearts and delved deep into a new world of hyperpop lovers with her mixtape Galore in 2020. Now, she’s exploring her unique blend of polyphonic, electronic pop, in wide open soundscapes influenced by vaporwave and ambiance sounds. While her debut was rooted in an era of tumblr and digital soundscapes, with choke enough, she pushes the boundaries of her sound to craft a very personal approach to emotions – deeply real, deeply linked to the chaos of life throwing lots of different experiences at you. She’s expecting her first child, and is also releasing a body of work into the world, a second birth, as she states herself.
Deeply anchored in her sound-making process, Oklou speaks expansively about her work, her research, her loops – she enthuses about introducing new sonic expanses and new instruments – from trumpets, acoustic guitar to new vocal processes, which she speaks of as yet another instrument. Working with a close-knit musical family composed by the likes of Casey MQ, A.G. Cook, Bladee and Nate Campany, Oklou channels sound explorations and distortions into an extremely personal tunnel of pop experimentation. choke enough is a connection and an irl space, where you have to let yourself go into abandonment. The album floats and flitters through experiences and emotions, and being guided through it taps into that euphoric energy of being alive. Oklou sits down – IRL – to talk to Schön! through the process of the album, the changes and the next steps.
How are you?
I’m doing crazy well. I’m really great. It’s a really great moment for me. What with the pregnancy and my projects – there are two births, so to speak, in 2025 [laughs].
You’ve just released choke enough – how would you describe the process behind the album?
The last mixtape came out over 4 years ago now. I started work on choke enough two and a half years ago. I lived Galore to the full until we finished the tour dates. And there was COVID in the midst of it all.
I really had to turn the page on Galore, and its whole campaign (talking purely in wonderful marketing terminology) to be able to start a new chapter. It took me two years before I finished the music. It was a big challenge for me. I would have liked to flout my previous experiences, but it’s not possible – to ignore everything that came before. It’s a bit like when you enter into a new relationship, with someone for example. The past is still there.
I had expectations in terms of what I wanted to talk about. With Galore it was very clear – there was a specific experience in front of me – well, behind me, as it happens – but there was something easy, accessible for me. By 2022, I was in a different place, I was in a transition phase in my life, I had lots of emotions that I hadn’t explored, hadn’t matured yet.
It was a big period of change, socially, in my way of thinking, also in my personal relationships. Also in my life choices, in my paths, in the way in which I lived my life. I wanted to ask myself – ‘ok, what really suits me?’ Psychologically, it was complicated for the album because I needed to feel that I could draw on imagination from something anchored in my everyday life, and given that my life was a bit scattered, it was difficult to put my finger on something, a central theme, on anything really.
And I didn’t think I had found it – for a long time. Eventually, I got to the point where I realised that the album is a bit like a messy room. And I’m at peace with that image now. I find it very dense. And that’s because it deals with so many things. And it’s the reality of what my life has been for the past two years. It was my life.
left
jumper + hat. Sunnei
trousers. 8on8
shoes. Miista
right
top. JENNY HYTÖNEN
trousers. SSHEENA
gloves. YENESAI
left
jumper + hat. Sunnei
trousers. 8on8
shoes. Miista
right
top. JENNY HYTÖNEN
trousers. SSHEENA
gloves. YENESAI
Credits
It feel like there’s a definite emotional journey through the album. As if you’re constantly working on yourself.
It’s true that I also needed to get away from certain sounds that were in Galore – not necessarily with the idea of improving, but with the idea of exploring other sound processes, so that I don’t settle too much into my comfort zone. Also, so that I remain stimulated by my sound research, which is something I really enjoy.
You have a background in classical music…
Yes, yes. But not exclusively. I spent many years at the Conservatoire, putting in many hours and investing a lot of time in an environment of classical music. But that’s not all, there was a lot going on before I was 10. As a child I had the chance to learn music with teachers who opened up my sensibility, and my technique, to learning to sing while playing the piano, for example. It was a much more popular approach, in fact, than what I went onto learn at the Conservatoire.
When I was a teenager, I developed my own personal tastes by listening to the radio and watching concerts and festivals. I’ve never been fully classical. But I think that’s fine.
jacket. Ottolinger
top. YENESAI
trousers. SSHEENA
boots. Ann Demeulemeester
jacket. Ottolinger
top. YENESAI
trousers. SSHEENA
boots. Ann Demeulemeester
Credits
How would you describe the work on sound for choke enough?
The big difference for me was the piano, the instrumentals I wrote and composed. On Galore, it was me who played the keyboards a lot on the instrumentals, so it was very much a process of switching hats. Galore was very written – orchestral, almost. With choke enough, that’s not at all the case. I did a lot of research on chords. I used my hands, my playing hands on the keyboard a lot. My main sonic axis, I would say, or to rephrase – the genesis of each track – were the loops that were on my computer, that I fell in love with. Most of them I created myself, but I’ve also been inspired by other people’s loops, with people I work with.
You worked on the album with Casey MQ…
I continued working with Casey MQ, yes, but also with Cecile Believe, who’s great, and another guy from LA called Nate Campany, who was a big fan of what we were doing with Casey. And then for the whole production side I worked with A.G. Cook again. We did studio sessions in Paris, LA then sessions in London.
left
jumper + hat. Sunnei
right
jacket. Ottolinger
top. YENESAI
left
jumper + hat. Sunnei
right
jacket. Ottolinger
top. YENESAI
A recurring question about your work is your use of English, as a French artist. What do you find in the English language that you don’t find in French?
There are several reasons [for writing in English]. It’s a choice of comfort, in many ways. There’s a comfort in working in a language that I don’t understand 100% in all its aspects, because it allows me to write lyrics. I don’t really feel like a lyricist or a poet with words. Writing in French is an exercise that can’t be taken for granted. I’ve tried it a few times, though – it sucks [laughs]. It’s horribly awful. It’s really hard.
At first, I turned to English because it was easy, it was very much an imitation of what I listened to. I listened to a lot of English music, basically. It was a musicality of language that I was used to. It was mimicry, clearly. That doesn’t mean I don’t pay attention to lyrics, on the contrary. I never work on lyrics alone. I have a different relationship to the use of the two languages.
There’s always, I feel, an accuracy when you speak of emotions in your work. Is this exploration important for you in choke enough?
It’s a recurring theme, in relation to this period of scattered moments that I’m going through, which is going off in so many directions. As a stigmata of what I’ve been through before, which was so raw, so “EURGH!” – there was this questioning around intensity, which is required to talk about emotions.
top. YENESAI
skirt. JENNY HYTÖNEN
trousers. Miista
shoes. EMPTY BEHAVIOR
hat. VESPA
scarf. Ann Demeulemeester
top. YENESAI
skirt. JENNY HYTÖNEN
trousers. Miista
shoes. EMPTY BEHAVIOR
hat. VESPA
scarf. Ann Demeulemeester
Credits
Do you go on the hunt for this emotional intensity, as a person?
Yes, I think I do. I think so.
What’s your star sign?
It’s Taurus. What does that say about me? [laughs] I’m looking for emotions in my life, for sure, and I’m in a very intense moment, especially because I’m starting to shift away from myself. It’s something I talk about a lot on the album. It’s a shift in my brain. I spent my teens and twenties being very inward-looking, very egocentric. Not in a problematic way, I’ve always been attentive to friends, to the people around me. I was very present. I now notice that there’s something about growing up, there’s an interest in others that’s almost stronger now. It’s very new, that’s what’s been happening over the last few years. I hope this is a step forward.
Jane wears
trench coat. JANE FU
opposite
left to right
Jane wears
trench coat. JANE FU
June wears
jacket. Zara
shirt. Uniqlo
Jane wears
trench coat. JANE FU
opposite
left to right
Jane wears
trench coat. JANE FU
June wears
jacket. Zara
shirt. Uniqlo
Credits
A slight chill in the air sees Jane Fu and June bundle up in this Schön! editorial photographed by Al Sarcoli with looks by JANE FU, Uniqlo, Romantic Move and others, featuring make up by artist Rafa Garcia Sanchez.
June wears
jacket. Zara
shirt. Uniqlo
opposite
Jane wears
trench coat. JANE FU
June wears
jacket. Zara
shirt. Uniqlo
opposite
Jane wears
trench coat. JANE FU
Credits
left to right
June wears
jacket. Zara
shirt. Uniqlo
denim trousers. FATALISM
shoes. ROMANTIC MOVE
Jane wears
trench coat. JANE FU
opposite
left to right
Jane wears
trench coat. JANE FU
shoes. CELINE
June wears
jacket. Zara
shirt. Uniqlo
denim trousers. FATALISM
left to right
June wears
jacket. Zara
shirt. Uniqlo
denim trousers. FATALISM
shoes. ROMANTIC MOVE
Jane wears
trench coat. JANE FU
opposite
left to right
Jane wears
trench coat. JANE FU
shoes. CELINE
June wears
jacket. Zara
shirt. Uniqlo
denim trousers. FATALISM
Credits
left to right
Jane wears
trench coat. JANE FU
June wears
jacket. Zara
shirt. Uniqlo
opposite
June wears
jacket. Zara
shirt. Uniqlo
denim trousers. FATALISM
shoes. ROMANTIC MOVE
left to right
Jane wears
trench coat. JANE FU
June wears
jacket. Zara
shirt. Uniqlo
opposite
June wears
jacket. Zara
shirt. Uniqlo
denim trousers. FATALISM
shoes. ROMANTIC MOVE
Credits
left to right
Jane wears
trench coat. JANE FU
shoes. CELINE
June wears
jacket. Zara
shirt. Uniqlo
denim trousers. FATALISM
shoes. ROMANTIC MOVE
opposite
left to right
June wears
jacket. Zara
shirt. Uniqlo
Jane wears
trench coat. JANE FU
left to right
Jane wears
trench coat. JANE FU
shoes. CELINE
June wears
jacket. Zara
shirt. Uniqlo
denim trousers. FATALISM
shoes. ROMANTIC MOVE
opposite
left to right
June wears
jacket. Zara
shirt. Uniqlo
Jane wears
trench coat. JANE FU
Credits
Jane wears
trench coat. JANE FU
opposite
June wears
jacket. Zara
shirt. Uniqlo
Jane wears
trench coat. JANE FU
opposite
June wears
jacket. Zara
shirt. Uniqlo
Credits
June wears
jacket. Zara
shirt. Uniqlo
denim trousers. FATALISM
shoes. ROMANTIC MOVE
opposite
Jane wears
trench coat. JANE FU
shoes. CELINE
June wears
jacket. Zara
shirt. Uniqlo
denim trousers. FATALISM
shoes. ROMANTIC MOVE
opposite
Jane wears
trench coat. JANE FU
shoes. CELINE
Good meets bad in this Schön! editorial photographed by Topper Komm with model Linus Weber wearing looks by Diesel, Balenciaga, Guess and others styled by Ridvan Cavus with grooming by Asena Aysal.