Nejla Güvenç

Nejla Guvenc (born 1969 in Istanbul) is a Turkish fashion designer. After being in the business for many years, she launched her own label, NEJ, in 2002, with the aim of turning it into a global brand. Her design house is called the NEJ Atelier.

She uses organic fabrics, such as silk, linen, cotton and leather. Her eco-friendly collections has been launched in France, England, Sweden, Portugal, Denmark, Greece, Benelux, Israel and South Korea. She has been part of the design and production teams for brands such as Hugo Boss, Zapa, Rogan, Iro, Gloria Estelles, Pierre Cardin, Gap, Nike, Banana Republic, Zara and Massimo Dutti.

Social Projects

She took part in the Jimmy Key project where young artists support a project for a brighter future for Turkey. All of the income garnered from the project was donated to the education association in Turkey. She also designed a backpack for the Eastpak Artist Studio to support the preschool education.

Organ Transplant and Support Association organized a project to raise social awareness which was supported by Memorial Health Group that brought together fashion designers and celebrities. The funds raised was transferred to the association. Nejla Guvenc participated at this social responsibility project .

Nejla Güvenç was the Creative Director of Environmental Consciousness Project of Teknosa. Designers use idle and unused electronic devices and components to design clothes. Cables, earphones, electronic devices, computer cases became colorful clothes and necklaces in this project.

Accomplishments

Güvenç was the first Turkish woman chosen for the ’10,000 Women Program’, a project funded by Goldman Sachs and supported by a network of organizations and academic institutions.

Güvenç and her brand, NEJ, have been chosen by ITKIB (Istanbul Textile and Apparel Exporters’ Associations) to represent Turkey around the world, and ITKIB also support the fairs and trade shows she attends.

She is the vice president of MTD (The Turkish Fashion Designers’ Association).

She won 'The Corporate Social Responsibility Programme of the Year in Europe Award' under the International Business Awards by the Stevie Business Awards.

She has been chosen to represent Turkey in the “Hope Couture” fashion event, an haute couture event which specifically encourages collaboration between international fashion designers and manufacturers. This event is organized by the United Cultures Organization, an organization that aims to bring the cultures and communities of the world closer together through fashion and art.

She is qualified as the 'Authenticated Designer' by the TURQUALITY project developed by DTM (Undersecretariat of Foreign Trade) to create better Turkish brands in the international arena .

She is the board member of YEKON (Creative Industries Council Association).

She is a member of OTIAD (Osmanbey Tekstilci İş Adamları Derneği).

Nejla Guvenc succeeded as the only Turkish women to be a part of the book 'Women Entrepreneurs Inspiring Stories From Emerging Economies and Developing Countries' that is studied at the Entrepreneurship class at The Wharton School of The University of Pennsylvania Joseph H. Lauder Institute .

She also won the Corporate Social Responsibility Programme of the Year in Europe Award in the International Business Awards by the Stevie Business Awards.

In the project carried out by Garanti Bankası for women entrepreneurs, she won the Corporate Social Responsibility award under the ‘Europen Excellence Awards 2010’. And also she received 2nd place out of 500 participants in the "Most Promising Woman Entrepreneur" category of the 5th "Turkey's Woman Entrepreneur" competition that was held with the collaboration of Garanti Bank, the Ekonomist Magazine and the Women Entrepreneurs Association of Turkey (KAGIDER) in 2011.

In cooperation with Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality and South Korea Gyeongsangbuk-do Province's Gyeongju Municipality, Istanbul-Gyeongju World Culture Expo 2013 was organized and Turkey's and South Korea's historical and cultural values were introduced to the world. Nejla Guvenc presented her Nej collection with a fashion show at the opening ceremony of the festival.

Nej showed the success of being one of the ten selected designers at the British Vogue Magazine. One designer has been selected from Turkey in 2013.

Current issues of energy, economy and communication was discussed under the main heading of "Where is Humanity Headed?" at the 18th Eurasian Economic Summit in 2015. The summit was organized by the Marmara Group Foundation and IHKIB's leadership. The NEJ collection exhibition was the summit's major opening gala event. There was an attendance of MPs, former presidents, academicians and businessmen from about 50 countries to the summit.

International fashion fairs and runway shows (2006 - 2015)

References

• United Cultures
• Nejla Güvenç
• Haber Detay
• Turkish Culture
• Istanbul-Gyeongju World Culture Expo 2013
• Q&A with Nejla Guvenc The Yale Globalist
• Women Entrepreneurs' Association of Turkey
• Women Entrepreneur Competition
• 18. AVRASYA EKONOMİ ZİRVESİ