Meet The Team

Founder

Hi, I am Seda and I am the founder of Yzill. I am from Turkey and have been passionately involved in design since I was a child; making my own jewellery, clothes and toys. Designing things has always been part of my life as I was always helping my uncle who is a jewellery designer and maker.

I moved to Brighton 18 years ago to study English and art. I did a Foundation Degree in Art and Design at Sussex Downs College, and then went on to do a Product Design degree at the University of Brighton. Whilst studying at university my passion for fashion and shoes became irresistible. I graduated in 2011. After finishing my degree, I went to Turkey to do an internship with a shoemaker who had been making handmade shoes for 30 years. Creating shoes from scratch, I realized how fascinating it is to have something handmade and how little women were involved in the craftsmanship industries in Turkey.

On my return to the UK , I decided that I needed to learn more about management and branding to start Yzill and I studied an MA. in Design Management for the Fashion Industries at London College of Fashion. The dissertation thesis for my MA. forms the backbone of Yzill the brand. I wanted to develop a philanthropic business that would help other women, as I feel that there are still big inequalities in society and in many countries women are under represented and under supported in many areas and downright exploited in others. I believe this is massively unjust, but the brilliant thing is that we, as women, have huge consumer spending power, so I wanted to develop a brand that was focused on women and would give back to women, to empower them, to inspire them and to support each other. 

Creative Director

Hello, I'm Melis. I'm responsible for all of the photography for Yzill. I have been working as a photographer for over 8 years, my speciality is product and jewellery photography and completed my MA. in Visual Effects Production at Escape Studios in London. At the moment I am working as a visual effect artist. I joined Yzill because I wanted to be a part of a philanthropic cause. I wanted to give back to the community by being a facilitator on the Yzill Foundation workshops in the topics of: Photography and Photo Editing. 

Head of Marketing

Hello, I'm Christine. I was a professional athlete for more than 20 years, in the sport of windsurfing, I represented Great Britain at the 2000 Olympics, won the World Championships in 2003 and have Eight National Champion titles in windsurfing. More recently I've won two national championships in Touch Rugby, 2017 and 2019, with the Women's 35s South East Team. This isn't my first business venture, I run a kitesurfing school and store called The KiTE, SURF & SUP Co. we teach kitesurfing at Worthing beach and we are entering our 7th season. 

I'm responsible for the marketing for Yzill and I share Seda's passion to support women by donating profits to the Yzill Foundation. I will run Power Kite, Stand Up Paddle and Kitesurfing workshops for the Yzill Foundation. I also have a BSc. in Psychology, MSc. Sport and Exercise Psychology, and was professionally accredited by BASES in Sport Psychology, so may well run some Psychology themed work shops in the future!