Burak Cakmak was recently named CEO of the Fashion Commission (FC), one of the 11 commissions working under the umbrella of the Kingdom’s Ministry of Culture and is responsible for developing the fashion sector in the country.
Last July, the Ministry of Culture announced the formation of the FC’s board of directors, headed by Culture Minister Prince Badr bin Abdullah bin Farhan. Cakmak was named one of the board members. Prior to that, Cakmak served as dean of fashion at Parsons School of Design from 2015 to 2020. He was responsible for the implementation of world-class standards across all business functions, including raw material sourcing, supply chain management, manufacturing, and retail operations.
As CEO of the commission, Cakmak’s job responsibilities include supporting and empowering talents, professionals and entrepreneurs in the local fashion industry. He will also set a strategy to develop and regulate the fashion sector. Moreover, encouraging finance and investment is another task he is assigned to in his new post.
Cakmak received a bachelor’s degree at the Middle East Technical University in Turkey in 1997. He also obtained a postgraduate certificate in sustainable business from the University of Cambridge in 2013, and an MBA from a joint program between San Francisco State University and CERAM Sophia Antipolis in France in 1999.
 Cakmak is a co-founder of the Digital Fashion Group and THEAN/co. He possesses nearly 20 years of experience working with top fashion companies as a sustainability expert and business strategist.  
He has led innovation-based sustainability strategies for various luxury brands. He was also the general manager of MADE-BY in the Netherlands.