Meet Murat Niyage

LYCRA® brand recently interviewed Mr. Murat Niyage from the Turkish firm İSİSTAŞ, a coverer based in Istanbul, to learn more about his company and how its use of LYCRA® fiber has benefitted his business.

Can you tell us about İSİSTAŞ and its history with LYCRA® fiber?

Our company was originally founded by my brother in 1978 and I joined him as a partner in 1984. We became İSİSTAŞ in 1986 and since then, we’ve slowly transformed the company by expanding our capacity and adopting new products - especially the latest LYCRA® fiber innovations. We first used LYCRA® fiber in 1988 and have always been the first company in Turkey to conduct trials on it. We trust LYCRA® brand products to deliver dependable performance and cutting-edge innovation.

My brother pioneered many innovations in the Turkish market and was always respected and loved within the socks sector. His passing therefore was a big loss both for our family and the market. One of the innovations he brought to the Turkish socks market was LYCRA® fiber. Birol knew about LYCRA® fiber’s amazing properties even before he started our business. Originally, our firm produced covered rubber, but we were fed up with its difficulties and limitations. Birol knew that the future of our business would be tied to LYCRA® brand elastane and we started to find exciting ways to use it and learned how to promote it to our customers and get them excited about it, too. LYCRA® fiber costs more than rubber, but once customers saw the difference in sock tops made with covered rubber versus covered LYCRA® fiber, they knew the cost was worth it. Rubber couldn’t compete with the lasting comfort and fit and performance of LYCRA® fiber.

What is your core business and what services do you provide?

Our core business today is double covering, single covering, air jet, and intermingling. We’re renowned for our innovative, high-quality products, but even more for the exceptional customer service and technical support we offer our customers. They know we stand behind our products and will work with them to provide a solution to any problems they may have. Outstanding service, reliability and maintaining inventory for rapid order fulfillment – these are our strengths. We’ve been in the business for so long that we know what to keep in stock. When a customer asks for a specific product, we can provide it immediately. This is a key point of differentiation when our products are compared to lower priced competing products.

You started working with LYCRA® fiber in 1988. How has your relationship with The LYCRA Company helped İSİSTAŞ?

The LYCRA Company has always been by our side ready to help with any technical problems or questions we may have. Our first use of LYCRA® fiber was on single covering machine and we were complete novices. We ran into trouble and asked for help. A knowledgeable technician came out to show us what we were doing wrong, and the machine functioned perfectly after that. Whenever we use a LYCRA® brand product, we can count on The LYCRA Company to tell us what to do and what not to do to keep our machines—and our business—running smoothly.

There are more competing elastane fibers in the market today than when you started using LYCRA® fiber thirty years ago. Why do you still choose LYCRA® brand?

In my opinion, you don’t have a true competitor. No other fiber producer has 60 years’ experience developing industry-leading innovations and no other brand enjoys high awareness down to the consumer level. We value the unmatched technical and marketing support The LYCRA Company delivers as well as its focus on product quality and exceptional service, which aligns with our business philosophy.

Has The LYCRA Company helped İSİSTAŞ devise their business strategies in any way?

Yes, in a way. If we didn’t have The LYCRA Company, we wouldn’t be as strong as we are in the market. Since we focus on product quality, LYCRA® fiber has helped us greatly in that regard, as well.

What innovations are you most proud of since the company was founded?

I don’t think we’ve made any innovation ourselves per se but rather brought innovations to the Turkish market and in my opinion, the biggest innovation that we brought to the Turkish market was air covered yarns. And at the time, there was only LYCRA® fiber, so we started with LYCRA® fiber.

What are the main markets in which you operate?

In Turkey, it’s socks manufacturers, narrow fabrics, circular machines, and medical socks. Not many coverers can sell their products to medical clients. This market is one of the reasons why we’re updating our machines constantly. The quality is 99% guaranteed. Unfortunately, you never have 100% quality.

What are your main priorities for İSİSTAŞ’s future?

Keeping our focus on what we’re good at and making sure that our products, our relationships with our customers, our lead time and overall service are the best in the market. Reputation takes some time to build so we don’t want to destroy it.

All photos courtesy of İSİSTAŞ. LYCRA® fiber is a trademark of The LYCRA Company.