About Us

Meet Gizem

Gizem grew up in Ankara — a city of its own quiet beauty, but far from the cobblestone alleys, canal-side sunsets, and bustling piazzas that would one day become her greatest inspiration. Even as a child, she noticed what others walked past: the way light shifted across a building at different hours, the colors hiding in a spice market stall, the feeling of stepping into a place and knowing it would stay with her forever.

It started on a side street in Barcelona.

It was a Sunday afternoon. She had just walked out of the Sagrada Família — the kind of place that leaves you a little quieter than it found you — and she wanted something to take home. Not a fridge magnet. Not a shot glass. Something that felt the way the city had felt: warm, a little romantic, made by someone who actually loved it.

She couldn't find it.

Not in Rome some time later.

Not in Paris, not in Amsterdam, not in Istanbul. Everywhere she went, the same gap. Cities that had inspired her so deeply, sold back to visitors as plastic.

So she sat down with her sketchbook and started designing the souvenirs she had wanted to find — vintage crests pulled from forgotten postcards, soft watercolor skylines, the kind of artwork that feels like it was made by someone who actually walked the streets.

That's how Trail and Trinket started.

What we make

Every Trail and Trinket piece is hand-illustrated by Gizem and printed on premium fabric, ceramic, or canvas. T-shirts that soften with every wash. Sweatshirts you'll reach for on cool autumn evenings. Tote bags that turn from souvenir into companion. Mugs that make Tuesday morning coffee feel like a small ritual. Phone cases that carry a city in your pocket.

Two collections, growing slowly:

The Odyssey Line — vintage crests, old-world romance, the postcards of another century redrawn for a modern shoulder.

Watercolor Skyline — soft-edged paintings of the cities we love, all hand-illustrated, all carried close.

She started with the cities she walked.

The list keeps growing — Florence, Lisbon, Tokyo, Kyoto — each one in the sketchbook, each one slowly becoming a piece you can carry home.

We're a small team. Gizem designs every piece by hand. Her partner Arda helps with the technology, the warehouse, the unglamorous parts of running a tiny brand.

If you've found a piece in our shop that makes you slow down a little — that reminds you of a Tuesday in Rome or a long Amsterdam afternoon — we made it for you. We hope it stays with you the way the city did.

Carry the city. Live the day a little slower. And travel like the part you bring home matters as much as the trip itself.

Because the best trips never really end. They just find new ways to stay with you.

Happy trails,
Gizem & the Trail and Trinket Team