Today we’d like to introduce you to Talya Menase.
Talya, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I grew up in Istanbul, Turkey, where Leather craftsmanship is one of the things they are notorious for. My family has been in this industry for 60+ years producing garments for top luxury brands worldwide, from concept to completed goods in stores, we do it all in-house.
I spent a lot of time throughout my years in our facilities overseeing production, quality control, packaging, soaking in all of the information that I could knowing that one day I would utilize all that I have observed. I always had the plan of starting my own brand when the time was right and there’s no doubt the time is now. From day one, I felt the need for change but was too young to realize what was going on. I was never a good student, I struggled with dyslexia, ADD, amongst other things which went undiagnosed until my senior year of High School. Teachers had no patience in trying to understand me, instead they would just give my parents that anticipated call. Growing up in a Turkish school as one of the only half-Americans with broken Turkish – girls were never nice and guys were no better. A lot of my early memories from school were pretty isolating and in every day, I felt broken down I see now that it only prepared me with the tools I possess today.
After changing high-schools three times, I pretty much became the cliché teenage rebel, tattoos at 13, weird boyfriends, no sense of responsibility or consequence. I was angry at the system, was rejected by my peers, so I said f**k it I’m gonna do my own thing. I always stuck to what felt right to me, in my gut, I only listened to that even if it went against the grain and made things difficult for me. A uniform or a title didn’t earn my respect, even as a young girl. Knowledge, love, compassion, humanity – THAT I respected. To some, I was a little shit and to some, I was an independent thinker. But I knew that perspective had everything to do with where that person was at in their own life and not much to do with me.
Finally, when it was time for college, I moved to London and studied Luxury Brand Management at Istituto Marangoni for one year before I transferred to New York where my mother and brother live. I attempted to continue university as that is what this Society programs us to think we need to do if we want to make our families proud, get a decent job, etc. you know how it goes. But I had enough of it, it felt like my whole being rejected the structure in which University would educate, so I dropped out.
I decided to follow my passions and explore where my skills are strongest. I educated myself on what I WANTED to learn, in fields I WANTED to be in, which has always been the creative world along with human psychology. I painted a lot, wrote a lot, designed, planned, created different collections, I even dabbled with jewelry. Writing lists upon lists upon lists upon lists. All roads lead back to Fashion but fashion alone didn’t cut it either, what drives me is having a positive impact, I just use fashion as my outlet.
I lived in New York City for four years before I moved to LA, which is where I live now and this time last year, I began my journey with NEXT SOCIETY. I went through every step of creating a company without expecting rush results. I wanted to become a master of all roles that a company has from creative direction, design, production, building a website, marketing, etc. I went to seminars and courses on each and every role and loved every single class. As a start-up, I didn’t want to just hire a team, I wanted to become my team. I was a one woman show for the most part of the development and as the brand starting holding its weight, the team has organically expanded.
I’ve officially launched May 11, 2020 during COVID, and for some reason the timing just felt perfect. We are not here to be the perfect brand in the perfect world at the perfect time. We are here to instill a sense of community, unity and humanity. We are here to plant the seeds for improvement while providing quality products that link us all wherever we are in the world. We work with charities and donate a portion of all sales, 365 days a year. We are creating a platform for discussion through our blog, where anyone can chime in and share their thoughts and stories, to help unify and elevate. We have big long term plans too, you’ll have to stay tuned 🙂
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
It’s impossible to start a brand and not have obstacles. It’s all about how you look at it. I work through them as they come and I believe my brand gets stronger with each challenge, just like my personal life. I welcome obstacles, I enjoy dissecting them and learning and growing from them.
Please tell us about Next Society.
Being vertically integrated, I get to cut out the middlemen, providing top quality products without the ridiculous mark-ups. We are a brand with a conscience, known for our Leather goods. We strive to lead with Empathy & Love making kindness cool while looking and feeling f**king dope.
If you had to go back in time and start over, would you have done anything differently?
Nothing.
Pricing:
- 10% of all profits are donated to various charities we partner up with.
- Free domestic shipping
Contact Info:
- Website: www.nextsociety.la
- Phone: (Text): 310 591 88 60
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nextsociety.la/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nextsociety.la/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/NEXTSOCIETYLA
Image Credit:
Seema Pejman
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