Some stories are passed down through generations. Others are tucked into a piece of lace, hidden inside an amulet or preserved in the shape of a traditional sweet.

For designer Gizem Özçelik, these fragments of the past are more than cultural memories; they are the starting point for Atelier Ziggy, her Istanbul-based jewelry brand that gives familiar forms a new life. We spoke with Özçelik about her approach to design, the stories behind her collections and the craft traditions that continue to inspire her.

Born in Istanbul to a photographer father and a writer mother, Özçelik grew up surrounded by creativity. Her mother’s talent for drawing inspired her own interest in art, eventually leading her to study painting. Her father, meanwhile, introduced her to photography, the field in which she began her professional career.

Years later, when she started sketching her first jewelry designs, she realized how valuable her artistic training had been. "Today, I also create Atelier Ziggy’s visual identity myself,” Özçelik said. "In a way, these two creative fields, which have been part of my life since childhood, have come together at Ziggy.”

First seeds

Her path to jewelry design was anything but linear. Özçelik studied Management of Performing Arts at Istanbul Bilgi University, pursued an intensive year of painting and later traveled to London to study photography at Central Saint Martins.

Each experience added another dimension to her creative outlook, but it was in London that her fascination with design and the people behind it began to grow. "I would say the first seeds of Atelier Ziggy were planted while I was in London,” she said. "By the time I returned to Istanbul, I knew I wanted to create designs of my own.”

When I asked her about how she decided to establish the brand, she said that Atelier Ziggy grew out of her longstanding interest in design, which had taken her from photography and painting to object design before she turned to jewelry.

Old and new, feminine and masculine, traditional and unexpected: contrasts lie at the heart of Atelier Ziggy. The jewelry brand draws on Türkiye’s cultural heritage while giving traditional forms a contemporary twist. "I want each design to carry a story from the past while still feeling at home in the present,” Özçelik said.

Her collaboration with artisans in Istanbul’s Grand Bazaar reflects this philosophy, combining traditional craftsmanship with contemporary design.

Small works of art

Sometimes, a brand begins with nothing more than a desire to create something you would love to own yourself. As an avid collector of silver pieces by independent designers, Özçelik admired how they combined artistic expression with everyday wearability. "I loved how easily silver could become part of everyday life,” she said. "The pieces that caught my eye were often designs that could be considered small works of art.”

This fascination eventually led her to try designing jewelry herself. What started with a few sketches and a desire to create pieces she would enjoy wearing soon developed into Atelier Ziggy. "To be honest, I didn’t have a grand plan when I founded Atelier Ziggy. I simply wanted to design pieces I loved and would want to wear myself,” she said. But the brand gradually established its own aesthetic and found an audience that embraced it. "Watching that evolution has been incredibly exciting,” she said.

Stories in silver

Türkiye’s cultural heritage provides a rich source of inspiration for Özçelik, whose designs often reinterpret traditional objects and forms through a contemporary lens. Nearly every piece carries a story rooted in history, tradition or personal memory.

The Akide designs, for instance, take their shape from akide candies, traditionally associated with the Janissaries. The name derives from the Turkish word "akitleşmek,” meaning to reach an agreement or make a pact. The candies were reportedly distributed during ceremonies marking the Janissaries’ pay, symbolizing mutual agreement. "Akide candy has a truly distinctive shape. Each piece is unique, yet the form is recognizable wherever you see it,” Özçelik said. Drawn to their distinctive form, she reimagined it in her jewelry.

Another design, Muska, is inspired by the traditional Turkish protective amulets. Its softened, slightly asymmetrical triangular shape gives it a contemporary appearance, while a hidden compartment at the back allows the wearer to keep a small, meaningful object inside, whether a prayer, a wish or a personal intention. "I love the idea of bringing a traditional object into everyday life,” she said.

"The story behind our Fatma earrings is much more personal,” Özçelik said. Named after Özçelik’s grandmother, the earrings were inspired by handmade coasters found among the trousseau her grandmother had prepared for her. Özçelik and her team reinterpreted the original patterns as earrings, later incorporating lace sourced from flea markets into the collection. The lace also inspired cuffs, bringing the pieces together under the name Çeyiz, the Turkish word for trousseau.

Özçelik said she is particularly drawn to forms and traditions passed down through generations that have gradually lost their place in everyday life. "Rather than reproducing them exactly as they were, I prefer to reinterpret them through my own design language,” she explained, adding that she enjoys transforming traditional forms into something thoroughly modern and sometimes unexpected.

Atelier Ziggy is available at the Istanbul Modern museum shop and at hotel boutiques including Maçakızı and Yazz. Özçelik began with silver and satin cord in her first collection, then introduced natural and semiprecious stones in her second, broadening her material palette as she continued to reinterpret traditional forms through contemporary design.