Our Story
Hi! My name is Hilal Palacioglu Ulukaya founder of Society Mano. I am a first-generation immigrant living in NYC born in Turkey. I have always dreamed SM is a platform powered by the women's community in order to produce sustainable & timeless pieces and reach you directly for easy access to premium handicraft quality.
I started Society Mano in my apartment in Brooklyn, New York City. I didn’t have any fundraising, just several handmade sweaters made full of love by my mom, aunties, and sisters in my home country, Turkey.
I started with 5 talented female artisans from the United States and Turkey. Today, I proudly say that we’ve been growing and working with nearly a team of 351 female artisans coming from underrepresented women's communities.
We offer you a warm welcome... and more about our story!
That’s me! and my lovely sweaters hand-made by our women community in Turkey. I presented them in a fashion seminar in Brooklyn, NY.
How We Do Our Business
The story of Society Mano has continued to be at the core of our business. Our clothes are hand-knitted & crafted by my 351 talented sisters in the United States and Turkey. We want the Society Mano to be a platform representing our power of community and creating unique pieces with fair trade that you wear proudly.
Our every piece is made entirely by hand, from A to Z, using high-quality, sustainable yarns. We sell every piece directly to our customers, one piece at a time, and every piece is made by local women from one of our female artisans’ homes with flexible working conditions and no deadlines.
Our goal since day one was not to build the fastest and biggest business, but a business with a social impact that supports underrepresented communities and delivers unique handcraft pieces in the easiest way to our loyal customers who shop with us every time who we learn to know by name, and often become our friends. We hope you feel that when you interact with our community and wear our handicraft pieces.
And that’s all. For more, I encourage you to meet our female artisans and read our sustainability part.
If you have any questions, ideas, feedback, or something to share — you can reach me directly anytime at hilal@societymano.com. I love hearing from our customers and the community.
Sincerely
Hilal Palacioglu Ulukaya
Owner, Society Mano