Melis Ergin-Krychtiuk Burcu Öztürkler
Vienna,AT & Durham,USA Vienna,AT
El Patito started in Vienna in 2017, but the real story begins years earlier in Istanbul.
We are Melis and Burcu. We met at a youth marketing agency in Turkey, became close friends over shared ambitions and a lot of laughter, and never really stopped working together since. When Melis married her Austrian partner and moved to Vienna, Burcu flew over for the wedding, fell in love with the city, and not long after, moved here too with her partner.
Two Turkish women, a new city, and a question that wouldn't go away: what if we built something of our own?
So we did.
After 13 years of corporate life, we decided to stop doing what we were supposed to do and start doing what we actually believed in.
Our lives have taken different shapes since then. Melis is now a mum to a wonderful 3-year-old, a lovely and hardworking husband, a family that travels heavily, chasing new corners of the world and new inspirations along the way, designing cozy & corners and creative ideas. Vienna, then the US for a while, then back again, life has never stood still. Burcu went deep into art direction, galleries and creative work, building a beautiful life in Vienna with her partner and their very loved cat.
Different days, different inspirations, but the same taste for beautiful things, the same work ethic, and the same stubborn belief that what you make matters.
We design every pattern and colourway in Vienna, drawing from our Turkish roots, our adopted home city and everything we encounter along the way. Each piece is handwoven by our producer partner in Western Turkey, one of the world's finest textile regions, using hand-operated looms and traditional finishing techniques passed down through generations.
Our cotton is 100% natural. Our packaging is eco-friendly. And every order — from hand-picking the glass evil eye details to folding each piece and personally walking it to the post office — is handled by us, with the same care we put into everything we do.
We support local producers and small shops. We hope you'll support us too.
Welcome to El Patito <3
Melis & Burcu
Who is Melis?
I'm a day dreamer! And a traveller. Travelling with my husband, my soulmate as much as we can and looking deeper to amazing cultures. Love to cook world cuisine, Adrenalin sports, seeking for new experiences and trying to add colors as much as possible to life.
After 13 years of marketing & corporate life in Istanbul, I got married, left everything that I built so far and moved to Vienna. Started over with the experiences in my pocket knowing that I only want to work for what I believe and be my own boss, I decided to go after my dreams which was creating a bohemian style brand. After Burcu also moved few months later to Vienna this dream of ours became real and Elpatito Brand came to life.
Who is Burcu?
After 7 years of experience in marketing and having worked in art field for 6 years, I decided to move to Vienna with my partner. Although my enthusiasm in art, I was eager to create a new initiative and we built up El Patito Towels brand.
