Beste and Merve Manastır; co-founders of the brand and the daughters of one of the oldest hand craftsman and leather goods manufacturer in Istanbul, Turkey, launched MANU Atelier in February 2014. The desire of presenting their father’s artisanship and unique talents in creating and manufacturing handcrafted leather goods brought the sisters together as business partners. The brand aims to preserve its loyalty to the old, while presenting its products to modern women of the new age, by combining premium leather with pure hand craftsmanship.

“Our father has been a handicraftsman since 1961 and our childhood passed by combining the vestigial leathers and making miniature handbags with them. Handbags are the most tangible faces of our childhood, alongside our infatuation with our father and his artisanship. The smell of the leather which ties the past and the present. A father who started apprenticing for his masters to become a craftsman and became infatuated with it when he was only 11… Mini backpacks and waist bags that he made for us when we were little. The balcony of his first atelier above Istiklal Avenue, Beyoğlu district. The infatuation with history and craftsmanship – these were in existence both in our hearts and our minds, while we were dreaming about this brand. In brief, the history of MANU Atelier has already started many years ago when we were two little girls; it was just born in February 2014.”