A Living Tradition.

For centuries artisans in southern Anatolia have made a soft leather shoe known as the yemeni. Lightweight, flexible, and entirely handmade, the design has been worn across the region for generations. Today the craft survives in only a handful of workshops, most notably in cities like Gaziantep and Kilis.

 

A Shoe With Deep Roots

The name yemeni is believed to derive from Yemen, where similar leather slippers were worn centuries ago. Through historic trade routes running north through Aleppo and into southeastern Anatolia, the design spread across the eastern Mediterranean.

Over time the craft became closely associated with cities such as Gaziantep, Kilis, and Antakya, where generations of shoemakers refined the technique and produced the shoes now widely known as Turkish yemenis.

 

How Yemenis Are Made

Traditional yemenis are made entirely by hand from natural leather. The upper, insole, and outsole are joined using waxed thread and a two-needle stitching technique that binds the layers together while allowing the shoe to remain flexible.

Because the construction contains no rigid sole, the leather gradually softens and takes the shape of the wearer’s foot over time.

 

Leather Soles in a Modern World

For centuries Turkish slippers were made as they always had been: leather shaped by hand, sole and upper in quiet conversation, no foam, no fanfare. When modern streets arrived—with trams, pavements, and impatience—shoemakers began adding rubber soles to traditional forms to make them more practical for everyday wear.

At Turkish Modern we take a gentler approach. Each pair retains the traditional leather sole, with a thin layer of rubber applied beneath it to protect the leather from water while preserving the classic silhouette.

Because this rubber layer is applied rather than stitched, it may occasionally begin to lift as the leather sole softens and flexes over time. This is not a defect so much as a sign of life. Leather moves. It adapts. It remembers you.

If the outer sole begins to peel, any local cobbler can easily glue it back down or replace it. Think of it as a small ritual of maintenance—like polishing silver or oiling wood—a way of participating in the long life of the object.

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Quality, Not Quantity

Because these shoes are stitched by hand using traditional tools and methods, they are produced in small batches that take days to finish. Limited production allows us to approach the craft carefully, inspecting each pair to ensure it meets our standards of beauty as well as durability.

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Our Interpretation

At Turkish Modern we draw inspiration from this centuries-old form while introducing a few contemporary details—new colors, subtle design elements, and a small stitched X on the heel.

Each pair is still made in Turkey using traditional methods and carefully selected leathers.

For many years we referred to our own versions as Rafiks. Recently we decided to return to the traditional name.

Call them whatever you like.
A yemeni by any other name is still a yemeni.

 

The X

Our shoes are marked with a small stitched X on the heel.

Part of it comes from the shoemaking process itself. The needles used to stitch the leather cross as they pass through the shoe.

But the X also has a more personal origin. When Turkish Modern co-founder Şeyda Carter was seven years old, a small X was tattooed on her hand.

The mark resembles both a cross and an ancient sun symbol found in many cultures.

Over time it became a natural signature for our shoes.

 

A Note From the Founder

When we began working with this tradition, I wanted to understand the craft completely. I learned to stitch the shoes myself using the same two-needle technique practiced by generations of Turkish shoemakers.

It is demanding work, but it gave me a deep respect for the craftsmen who have practiced this trade for centuries.

— Şeyda Carter
Founder, Turkish Modern