The Istanbul Modern Shop showcases Turkish design brands and products inspired by the museum's collection, describing itself as a platform for designers contributing to Turkey's design culture. It keeps its own posted hours alongside the museum, open Tuesday through Sunday with extended hours until 8pm on Fridays.
Hüseyin Karaca opened a 30-person glass-decorating workshop in Istanbul's Süleymaniye district in 1973. The company later added porcelain, then stainless steel cookware, building today's Karaca home goods brand.
Best for A Süleymaniye glass workshop in 1973 grown into cookware and textiles worldwide.
Karaca began in 1973 as a 30-person glass-decorating workshop that Hüseyin Karaca opened in Istanbul's Süleymaniye district, applying patterns onto glassware rather than manufacturing homeware outright. The business expanded material by material over the following decades: porcelain production followed in the 1990s, then stainless steel cookware and cutlery in 1994, each addition building out a broader home-goods catalogue rather than replacing the original glass line.
The Karaca Home brand — the housewares, textiles and small-appliance line most shoppers now associate with the name — launched in 2012, formalizing what had by then become a diversified manufacturer, importer and retailer rather than a single-category glass workshop. Family members beyond Hüseyin Karaca joined the business as it grew, keeping ownership inside the Karaca family across the company's expansion.
From that single Süleymaniye workshop, the company has grown into one of Turkey's largest home-goods retailers, now operating stores across dozens of countries. The throughline from 1973 to today is incremental: each new product category — porcelain, steel, then Karaca Home's broader housewares — was added onto the last rather than replacing it.
Fashion designer Rifat Ozbek turned to interiors in 2005 and, with partner Erdal Karaman, founded Yastik to make cushions from hand-woven ikats and suzani embroideries sourced in Central Asia and Uzbekistan. The Istanbul shop at Şakayık Sokak 13/1 in Teşvikiye carries limited-edition pieces with lavender folded into the down filling. Further stores followed in Alaçatı and, from 2010, in London.
Best for Ikat and suzani cushions
Yastik is the cushion house that the fashion designer Rifat Ozbek started in 2005. After thirty years on the runway, decorating his own holiday home in southern Turkey turned his attention to interiors. With his partner Erdal Karaman he created Yastik, the Turkish word for pillow, and opened a small shop near Bodrum. Own-brand stores followed in Istanbul and Alaçatı, and the label launched in London in 2010. The Istanbul shop and head office sit at Şakayık Sokak 13/1 in Teşvikiye. Yastik cushions are made in limited editions from hand-woven ikats and suzani embroideries sourced in Central Asia and Uzbekistan. The house describes these textile traditions as telling their stories through colour and weave as much as pattern. Ozbek and Karaman recombine and rework the fabrics so that they sit in either a traditional or a modern room. A handful of lavender flowers goes into the down filling of each cushion. The inner pillow is 100 percent goose feather. For its tenth year in 2016 the brand added two scented candles, Istanbul and London, developed with the perfumer Azzi Glasser. Wholesale accounts have included CFOC and Le Bon Marché in Paris and Dwell in New York. The cushions have furnished the Amanzoe in Athens and Maca Kizi in Bodrum. Ozbek was born in Istanbul and graduated in fashion from Central Saint Martins in 1977. He launched his Ozbek label in London in 1985, and the British Fashion Council named him Designer of the Year in 1988 and again in 1992.
Yazzma translates Turkish motifs into contemporary ceramics, textiles, tableware and home accessories. Its Instagram profile is the available first-party source for current collections and Tomtom shop information.
Best for Turkish motifs reimagined in modern ceramics, textiles, and tableware