A new shoe brand is bringing traditional Istanbul footwear to the District, but with a twist. Charix founder Suley Ozbey and business partner Rossen Tsanov spent two years perfecting a contemporary version of the classic “charik” leather shoe before launching last year, bringing modern comfort to a timeless silhouette.
“It’s the first time in the world that a brand is taking a very traditional Turkish shoe and making it in the specifications of a contemporary shoe,” said Ozbey, 37.
The Istanbul-native entrepreneur, who moved to the D.C. area to attend the University of Virginia, found inspiration when traveling through Turkey in 2015.
“I bought a pair of shoes at the market and brought it back with me to Washington. I wore them around the city not thinking anything of it, but I started getting a lot of compliments from random people and my friends," he said. "Everyone was asking where they can get a pair of these shoes.
“The main thing is that they’re very charming looking, very unique looking, and they come from a very specific part of the world,” Ozbey added. “They’re also very comfortable and versatile.”
Achieving that level of comfort was not without its trials. Before launching Charix, Ozbey worked as a consultant in textiles and manufacturing, working with companies like Under Armour and Lululemon. When he made the move to quit his job and self-finance his new venture, he went all-in, working with Istanbul’s “best shoemakers” to perfect the design.
“We made seven or eight versions of the shoe before we came up with what we have now,” Ozbey said. “We had 200 people try the shoes and comment on them.”
Comfort and quality were key: “We added a memory foam so that every step was comfortable, a durable rubber sole so it would be waterproof and incorporated a lining so the shoe would retain its shape.”
The handmade shoes, produced at the atelier in Istanbul that Ozbey oversees, are leather both inside and out, with no synthetic materials.
The shoes are available in 18 colors. It was also important for the founder that they were unisex.
“We feel like our brand defies boundaries including gender boundaries, racial boundaries and geographic boundaries, because we are bringing in traditional shoes from Istanbul all the way to the U.S.,” he said. “We want to appeal to the entire population regardless of their age, gender or background.”
Ozbey saw an immediate profit after launching. The shoes are priced lower than others of its caliber (at $145 a pair), he says, because the business is direct-to-consumer. Customers can visit the Charix House headquarters in Northwest D.C. to try on shoes or buy online. They are also collaborating with local stores to sell the shoes, and hope to have a retail shop next year.
“D.C.’s a very cultural place,” Ozbey said. “There are people from all over the world that travel and are well informed about the world. Bringing something from my hometown that I grew up in to my current hometown is something that was very important to me personally.”
