Dilara Fındıkoğlu and Harley Weir Capture Romania’s Witches in Witch

🇹🇷 Bu haberi Türkçe oku

London-based Turkish designer Dilara Fındıkoğlu has released Witch, a photo book created with British photographer Harley Weir. Published on 31 October 2026 under the independent imprint IDEA, the book is the fruit of a journey the pair made through Romania. At its heart are women who still keep the tradition of witchcraft alive today, and the long, uneasy relationship between the word “witch” and female power. The designer’s official Instagram account announced on 6 November that the book’s launch night had taken place.

According to Wallpaper*, AnOther and W Magazine, Weir and Fındıkoğlu travelled through eight towns and villages in Romania in just five days. In the book, women photographed in their traditional dress appear side by side with women wearing Fındıkoğlu’s designs. Alongside the photographs are interviews the duo conducted with seven Romanian women.

Candlelit portraits, corsets and conversations

As AnOther reports, the women in the book include Mihaela Minca, a practising Roma witch, as well as a journalist, a body modification artist and a trans activist. The shoots took place in dim rooms filled with candles, tarot cards and religious icons. Fındıkoğlu’s corseted designs lend these portraits a ceremonial air. W Magazine singles out one of the book’s standout pieces: a corseted dress decorated with cherries and stained with fruit juice; according to the magazine, the stains can also read as traces of blood.

The idea for the project grew out of a conversation. As AnOther tells it, Romanian creative director Matthew Scorțe shared the witch stories of his homeland with Weir. Weir, in turn, saw Fındıkoğlu as the ideal partner to explore the subject, describing her as the “queen of the witches”.

Redefining the word “witch”

The book’s starting point is to take a fresh look at a word that has been used throughout history to brand women. Speaking to Wallpaper*, Weir says the witch is the name given to the woman who cannot be controlled: “The witch became a name for the woman who could not, or would not, be controlled.”

Fındıkoğlu, in the same publication, describes their aim: “Through this book, we wanted to explore and celebrate the beauty of this often overlooked wisdom.” In her comments to AnOther, she stresses that they were trying to redefine the word: “We were trying to redefine the word ‘witch.'” The designer adds that people have become far too focused on understanding and rationalising everything, and as a result have lost their connection with the mystery of being human.

According to Wallpaper*, the project was also a way for Fındıkoğlu to reconnect with her Eastern European roots. W Magazine likewise notes that the designer finds Eastern Europe strangely familiar.

A book between fashion and documentary

Witch is not a classic fashion campaign book. Fındıkoğlu’s clothes are used here not to sell a collection but to carry a story. The interviews, which give a voice to real people, bring the book closer to a documentary project than a fashion editorial. Harley Weir’s visual language, which moves between art and fashion photography, supports this balance.

The post about the launch night notes that the conversation was moderated by AnOther writer Dominique Sisley and that the evening featured live performances. Photography is by Harley Weir, styling by Dilara Fındıkoğlu and art direction by Matthew Scorțe.

The view from Turkey

Dilara Fındıkoğlu is one of the Turkish designers most talked about in the international press. Her bold narrative built around corsets, historical silhouettes and the female body has made her one of the standout names on the London fashion scene. Witch takes that narrative beyond the runway: here the designer uses clothing as a tool for research and storytelling.

The book’s focus on Romania’s deep-rooted tradition of witchcraft also opens a familiar door for Turkish readers, who know the folk beliefs of Anatolia and the knowledge women pass down from generation to generation. The fact that Fındıkoğlu finds Eastern Europe familiar shows how this shared geography can be reread through fashion. Those who want to follow the designer’s runway work can find the season’s dates in our fashion week calendar guide.

Sources

• Wallpaper*: Harley Weir photographs today’s witches in Romania
• AnOther: Harley Weir and Dilara Fındıkoğlu reclaim the witch
• W Magazine: Dilara Fındıkoğlu and Harley Weir’s book Witch

Image: A still from Dilara Fındıkoğlu’s London Fashion Week Spring-Summer 2017 presentation, 2016 (archive, representative image) — Simon King, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0

The Instagram posts in this article are official posts from the respective accounts and are published using Instagram’s embed tool; all image rights belong to their owners.