Hello!
I’m Gina, the founder and CEO of oldbazaaristanbul. I wanted to take a step back, as we approach our fourth anniversary, to step out from behind the curtain and share a little bit about the brand that is my heart and soul.
Like many women, I experienced severe postpartum depression after my first child, Camilla, was born in 2015. And like a lot of other women, I didn’t talk about it and didn’t call it by name for a long time. I had a long, successful corporate sales career but felt completely unfulfilled and passionless about anything during this time of my life. But I also had an increasing desire to build something of my own, with my daughter in mind, that I could share with her and other mothers like myself who enjoyed fashion and wanted a place to shop sustainable, ethical and organic products. More importantly, I wanted to be able to shop at the same location for my daughter, too, without compromising on quality or style. I remember discussing this with my husband in bed one morning and I believe he was the one who coined the phrase, “oldbazaaristanbul.” As you might have guessed, that’s where it all began.
I set out with a plan: work as hard as I did during my time at a Fortune 500 company that couldn’t care less about me, but this time, I'm going to do it for myself and see where it could go. I went from feeling completely empty and without direction to suddenly being alive with ideas and inspiration. I started the company while sitting at my kitchen table as my daughter slept, and then I couldn’t stop. I was obsessed with building the brand and my first of three websites, doing all of the shipping out of our garage in Southern California. oldbazaaristanbul saved my life, and my children continue to inspire me to keep going while supporting other female-owned brands that also want to leave the world a better place by walking a little lighter.
Fast forward to today, and we now have our second child, Indio, and Camilla is 4! We’ve traveled the world and created our own clothing line, and we also hand-select the most amazing independent brands to share with you all. I was thrilled when I opened a 2,000-square-foot flagship store on the East Coast in 2017, but I couldn’t do this without constant support from my husband, James, and the many women who’ve come before me and taught me so much.
There’s much more to the story, but I’ll tell you the rest another time. For now, I wanted to share with you how much your support to oldbazaaristanbul truly means to me and my family. I am forever grateful to be able to share my passion for making women feel amazing in whatever skin they are in, with the convenience of hand-picked, handmade children’s brands to add to your shopping experience. Every single purchase allows this dream to continue and provide support to the many retail partners we work with that are also building a dream. Looking forward to roaring into the new decade with you. Happy holidays and happy New Year to you and yours!
With love, gratitude and laughter,
xo Gina
Baby New Arrivals
Home New Arrivals
Play New Arrivals
Women's New Arrivals
Kids New Arrivals
Nursery New Arrivals
