BİZE ULAŞIN

Our Story

The Junk was founded in 2021 by architect and designer Tarık Rasim Nomer.

While studying in Milan, Tarık was surrounded by design stores, fashion culture, and conversations around sustainability. He became fascinated by the potential of upcycled materials: their durability, character, and ability to carry a story from one life into another.

At the same time, he noticed a clear problem. Many sustainable design products were positioned as premium objects, making conscious consumption feel distant from everyday life.

This contrast shaped the foundation of The Junk. Tarık believed that upcycled design should not only be admired as a concept, but carried, used, and experienced by more people.

The Junk was created to transform discarded industrial materials into durable, distinctive, and more accessible products without losing design value, character, or purpose.

The first products were not made in a workshop, but at home.

Meryem Nomer, Tarık’s mother, played a key role in bringing the earliest ideas of The Junk to life. With her background as a physics engineer and her strong sewing skills, she brought a rare sense of precision, patience, and craftsmanship to the first pieces.

While Tarık shaped the concept and creative direction, Meryem helped turn those early ideas into finished products. What began as a mother-and-son collaboration became one of the foundations of The Junk.

From the beginning, the material itself shaped the identity of the brand.

Used truck tarps became the starting point, later joined by fire hoses and seat belts. These materials arrived with their own marks, textures, and history. Instead of hiding those traces, The Junk chose to work with them.

What had already lived one life began to take on a new one.

One of a kind from the very beginning. No two surfaces are ever the same, which means no two bags can be exactly alike. From cutting to sewing, each piece is handled individually and shaped by the character of the material itself. The first foundations of the brand were built by his mother’s hands, so uniqueness was never a concept added later.

It started there, with a mother’s promise that every piece would stay truly one of a kind.

Over time, The Junk grew beyond being only product-focused.

The bags became part of a wider lifestyle—designed to move through the city, be used daily, and carry both function and attitude. This everyday connection also shaped the visual direction of the brand, where product photography became an important way of expressing not only the bags, but the world around them.

As the brand evolved, so did its visual language.

The Junk developed a cleaner and more confident identity, built around simplicity, strong form, and material character. Rather than relying on excess, it focused on a more direct and contemporary aesthetic.

It became a brand language that felt rooted in Istanbul, while naturally finding its place in the Netherlands.

What started with a small number of bags gradually grew into a wider collection. Over time, The Junk developed backpacks, crossbody bags, travel bags, and smaller accessories, all produced in our own workshop through the same material-led approach. While the forms changed and the collection expanded, the core idea stayed the same: every piece begins with what already exists.

The Junk began in Istanbul, with production rooted in Turkey. Every piece is made in our own workshop, built on Turkish craftsmanship and hands-on making. Over time, the bags moved far beyond where they started, reaching people across Europe, the United States, and beyond. Today, with a growing presence in the Netherlands, The Junk connects local production with an international perspective. What started as a personal idea has become a brand carried across borders.

ONE OF A KIND