Model and Music Entrepreneur: Bleda Cilingir
A city with many opportunities leads to people with many ventures. New York City bustles with musicians, actors, writers, and creatives alike. The thing about creatives in this city, there are always more things for them to do. Why stop at modeling when you could write music as well? Originally born in Turkey, Long Island’s Bleda Cilingir is a model by day and a founder by night.
As someone who’s modeled for our campaigns in the past, we definitely admire your modeling work. What we don’t know enough about is your music career! Would you mind telling us more about Synchro Events?
First and foremost, ONS is a super special brand to me. My initial project with ONS was Spring Summer of 2018. Since then, I’ve walked the runway at their 2019 Fashion Week show. An airport themed runway show, which was super unique. Later I went on to do the entire Fall Winter campaign in 2020. This was really special to me because not only did we shoot an amazing video in the streets of Manhattan, but the photos were also turned into posters across LIC and Brooklyn. These reasons, combined with the family and friend atmosphere, during the projects seriously puts O.N.S. in a special place in my heart. The projects we’ve done have been massive in helping me work with other companies such as Macy’s or Mr. Porter to name a few. I love seeing ONS evolve and grow and to know that I helped aid that in any way is such a happy feeling.
Now to the second part of the question, Synchro Events. To put it shortly, Synchro is an event company that turned into more of a beautiful community. Created with my best friend, Sean McConnachie, about 3 years ago now. Me, alongside the amazing team, host shows across New York City and Brooklyn. Mainly EDM shows where we find the venue, book the artists and curate the events. I’m proud to say that we bridge the gap between local dj’s and the more established names in the EDM world. We help give local talent an opportunity to showcase their music to a crowd. There are so many friends I have made through Synchro Events and have seen many more flourish. Synchro is a real example of a sisterhood and brotherhood.
Is it difficult to manage Synchro, creating your own music and your modeling career?
In all honesty, it’s not too difficult to balance. Usually the shows take place on the weekends, with modeling shoots as a daytime thing. The majority of the time, I make my music or my sets in between all that when I’m home. The beautiful thing is that my years of modeling have made me very informed on good quality clothing. I remember that I had to create a logo for Synchro, so I went with the Synchro ‘badge’ as I like to call it. A simple but eye-catching 2 dimensional hexagon, which is our stand alone logo, with of course the Synchro Events text font. I found inspiration through high end fashion brands. Just being in hundreds of shoots for many different brands I know how I want the Synchro Events merchandise to be. For example I don’t just print a logo on a shirt and call it a day. I make sure it has neck tags, has a paper tag, maybe a corner of the sleeve detail, the weight of the shirt matters, having a plastic bag with the Synchro Events logo matters. All about the attention to detail. Everything I’ve learned throughout my years of modeling is something that I can incorporate into Synchro in some way.
Has being a New Yorker affected your career in any way?
New York to me is literally the coolest place on Earth. I don’t think I’m alone in that. When I travel back to Turkey during the summer and see my friends and meet people and tell them I live in New York, there is this clear sense of shock. They want to know the New Yorker lifestyle and how the people are. I seriously can’t be more grateful for my parents because without their decision to move to Long Island in the early 2000’s. Without it, nothing I’m doing today would be possible.
Is there anything or anyone about New York that inspires you in your music?
The music I make is mainly trap beats, with a few house tunes here and there. However the trap scene in New York is true inspiration. I first got into EDM shows back in 2014 when I would go to Webster Hall. It was just the coolest place for me. Only place that would play dubstep on a weekly basis. It’s really those shows that drove Sean and I to create Synchro Events. Today, I come across so many amazing artists. It’s truly mind blowing. Working with them, giving them exposure and having them network during the events makes all the hard work worth it. I can’t imagine my life without this scene.
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To keep up with Bleda and Synchro Events, click here. For more details on local creatives and to see more behind the scenes with Bleda, click here.
