Shopping in Istanbul for four seasons!

Istanbul, invites you to the enjoyable world of shopping with its shopping centers in world standards, its modern streets where stores of very special trademarks are located and its authentic passages.

The colorful face of history and daily life in Istanbul is also reflected in the city’s shopping world. Istanbul addresses all the demands of both its residents and visitors with its reasonable prices and special stores. In all shopping places, either from a boutique in the odd corners of a passage or in the stores of world-famous trademarks, we are sure that you will absolutely find a product directly appealing to you.

If you have limited time to go for shopping, you should set your shopping route right because in Istanbul you can find some specific products only in specific places.

Now, we invite you to the most important shopping points in Istanbul through the shopping route prepared by Moda (Fashion) Turkey.

The Chirpy Grand Bazaar
Just next to the deluxe shopping malls where you can find world-wide famous brands all together, there is an alternative shopping center, unique to Istanbul and which describes Istanbul: The Grand Bazaar. Grand Bazaar is a place which keeps lots of vanishing professions alive with their unique culture. It is the world’s oldest, biggest bazaar where most variable products are exhibited. The bazaar includes more than 3 thousand shops and it is visited by approximately 400 thousand people.

During the Ottoman Empire era, jewelries and precious hand-woven textiles were gathered in Kapalıçarşı from all over the country to be sold, and it is a shopping paradise for the ones who appreciate traditional textiles and authentic jewelries.

Oktay Ekinci, President of the Chamber of Architects, says that “It is not just seeing a historical and mysterious place; it is the attractiveness created by the market tradition deriving from the past and by the human warmth intermingled with that, and even the feeling of `trust`.”

Eğin Textile
One of the oldest shops in Kapalıçarşı is the Eğin Textile. At the moment the shop is run by the 5th generation of the family and the shop has a history of approximately 140 years. The firm sells thousands of loincloths to the famous 7-star-hotel Bruj-El Arab in Dubai, and it is also frequently visited by famous designers such as Rıfat Özbek and Dolce Gabanna. In addition, the capes and special shawls used in the movie Troy were manufactured and sent by Eğin Textile. In Eğin Textile, the shawls cost around 4-22 YTL, and the woolen shawls (called şekerpare) are 20 YTL.

Address: Yağlıkçılar Street, No: 1

Dervish
In Dervish, you can find triple skirts, hand-woven textiles and colorful kerchiefs brought from Anatolia. The shop is followed up by many designers. In Dervish, the traditional shirts are approximately 35-150 YTL, the shawls are 20-45 YTL, the ethnical triple skirts are 150-400 YTL, and the loincloths are 15-60 YTL. 

Address: Keseciler St. No: 33-35

Muhlis Günbatı
Another one of the interesting and attractive shops in the Grand Bazaar is Muhlis Günbatı. In this shop you can find colorful and appealing Ottoman style caftans and other traditional clothes. Among the customers of the shop are Güler Sabancı, Çiğdem Simavi, Yıldırım Mayruk and Dilek Hanif.

Address: Perdahçılar St. No: 48

Adıyaman Bazaar
In the Adıyaman Bazaar, you can find Gaziantep textiles and very beautiful shawls. The shop is frequently visited by fashion designers such as Rıfat Özbek and the students of fashion designing-patch work courses.

Address: Yağlıkçılar St. No: 74-76

Gülipek
Gülipek sells authentic clothes of dazzling colors, and it is closely followed up by fashion designers such as Özlem Süer and Cemil İpekçi. In Gülipek, you can find hundreds of alternatives to your taste and budget starting from 5 YTL to 350 YTL.

 “Yazmacı” the favorite place of Dolce & Gabbana and Rei Kawabuko
Among the customers of this shop are people such as Donna Karan, Jean Paul Gaultier, Rıfat Özbek, Cemil İpekçi and Atıl Kutoğlu. Just like Eğin Textile, caftans and specially-woven textiles were prepared in Yazmacı for the movie Troy starring Brad Pitt. In the shop you can find authentic loincloths and stamped head kerchiefs.

Thousands of varieties in Beyoğlu
Beyoğlu is one the districts which depicts the cosmopolitan structure of Istanbul at best. In the past, while mentioning fashion, the first thing that came to mind was Beyoğlu which covered the area between the west of Kasımpaşa Valley and the Gazhane Valley, composed of 45 streets and had a population of approximately 225 thousand inhabitants. Now it contains Istanbul’s most important culture, entertainment and business centers.

In the past, Beyoğlu streets welcomed citizens from high-income levels most of whom were foreigners, and today it welcomes over middle-aged people with high cultural and artistic knowledge and the youth preferring alternative/ marginal dressing style along with the punk style side by side. In addition, you can also see an old group of people who are now called Istanbul gentlemen and ladies.

In Beyoğlu, you can find chain stores of brands such as Diesel and Vakko whose prices are above the average level, but there are also relatively smaller shops and costume-makers who are not discovered by the majority. Among those hidden shops are Raven, Porto Bello, By Rodo, Pulp, Bondea Fashion and Çantacı and Cem who is famous with the bags manufactured on order. The most important features of those shops are they contain all kinds of products either fashionable or not and that their price range is quite reasonable (in Pulp you can buy pants for 30-40 YTL, in Çantacı Cem you can find bead-embroidered bags for 25 YTL). Among the leading costume-makers are Garderobe and Merih Costume which can be visited for all kinds of occasions.

If you want to take a break and rest or have a nice dinner while shopping in Beyoğlu, which is also called "Pera" by the foreign tourists, the ideal places are the Arka Sokak, Fado Irish Pub, Sir Winston Tea House and Le Caprice in the French Street.

A journey to the center of elegance: Nişantaşı
Nişantaşı is doubtlessly the most important shopping and fashion center of Istanbul. Its name originates from the target stones which were built during the Ottoman period. Today the district hosts hundreds of boutiques and stores of all sizes.

Nişantaşı reminds one of the popular cities such as Paris and Vienna with its magnificent historical buildings, luxurious shops and cafes. There you can you can see the most luxurious cars and the most elegant people of Istanbul of course along with the special stores of the most expensive brands.

The district has 4 main streets: Teşvikiye Caddesi (street), Vali Konağı Caddesi, Abdi İpekçi Caddesi and Rumeli Caddesi. In Teşvikiye Caddesi which starts in Maçka and goes to Valikonağı, there are the stores of the brands such as Emporio Armani, Gucci, Zara and also there are the special boutiques of the designers such as, Gamze Saraçoğlu. Armani Cafe and Teşvikiye Cafe are among the ideal alternative places where you can take a break and have a rest.

The most popular street of Nişantaşı is the Abdi İpekçi Caddesi. On this street, you can see the shops of many famous brands such as Valentino, Louis Vuitton, Roberto Cavalli, Hugo Boss, Alexander McQueen one after another. Dozens of shops, restaurants and cafes which compete with each other in luxury and magnificence welcome the most distinguished and the wealthy guests of the district. The cafes in the Reasürans Arcade, Beymen Cafe, Buz Bar, The North Shield and Niş are some of the alternatives we can recommend you for your breaks.

While you are shopping in Nişantaşı, you can use the entrances of the Vali Konağı and Teşvikiye streets, the municipality street parking garages in Abdi İpekçi Street and Maçka Park, multistory car parks in Teşvikiye Street or the private car parks in the side streets as parking spots.

Elegance of the Anatolian side: Bağdat Street
The road that the Ottoman army once used while leaving Istanbul has new become one of the most popular shopping and entertainment center for the young between the ages of 15-30.

Through the street, it is possible to find the shops of almost all popular brands such as Zara, Louis Vuitton, Tommy Hilfiger, or Barbour. Especially in the part between Erenköy-Suadiye, there are dozens of famous cloth, jewelry and cosmetics shops one after another. Although the number of the “haute couture” boutiques here is not as much as the ones in Nişantaşı, except for a couple of examples near Erenköy, hundred thousands of people are still attract many peopla to this place by the multistory stores such as Boyner and YKM and by dozens of small shops selling various products imported from outside the country. If you have a look at the shops on the back streets, you can have infinite shopping choices appropriate for almost all budgets on Bağdat Street.

The fashion trends are closely followed up in Bağdat Street and you can come across highly elegant people on this street. In Bağdat Street, where the people who love shopping never want to leave because of its luxurious stores, decent cafes and pleasant atmosphere, you can also find the big branches of the famous hairdressers-beauty centers such as Tony&Guy, Erdem Kıramer and Ebil. Moreover, you can take break in one of the dozens of classy cafes or restaurants such as Starbucks, Divan, Kırıntı along the street after shopping for hours.

•    Nişantaşı is the favorite of all times with its classy boutiques, cafes, restaurants, street exhibitions, festivals and new year entertainments …

•    The Grand Bazaar looks like a huge labyrinth with its approximately 60 streets in the area between the Nuruosmaniye Mosque and the Beyazıt Mosque. It is the world’s oldest and biggest covered shopping center.

•    In Beyoğlu, the shopping spots from a boutique an a corner of a passage, to the stores of worldly-known brands tell you that you can go shopping in Istanbul in all seasons.

•    The passages which are small towns by themselves and create their own fashion, attract many people to Beyoğlu for shopping.