Athens of fashion and the princess of prints

When the models finally appear on the runway, it is clear that we are watching a unique, unique fashion show.

When the everyday becomes noble
A Greek fashion designer who lives and works in London, she named autumn winter collection 2012 Color is the Fruit of Life. It is dominated by fairy-tale, fantasy clothes with distorted cuts, carefully assembled with prints, which together form an extremely rich and narrative collection. The effect of patterns or cuts would be lost one without the other, but together, precisely assembled, they work flawlessly. Images of a pencil, spoon, hanger, chess and typewriter. In the new collection, the designer found beauty in the everyday and the objects that surround us, and raised the ordinary to the noble. She also achieved this with the match she decided on for the first time. She tried to match all the elements. She divided the collection into seven parts, which contain prints with images of objects in a certain color, among which she chose white, blue, green, sand, yellow, red and black. On the runway, the models glow saturated with strong shades. Mary Katrantzou she is a master of the realization of seemingly simple concepts, which only come to life best in complex forms, when the prints determine the garment. This time, the patterns dictate not only the colors, but also the shape of the dress and the mood of the color sequence. With the new collection, she raised her recognizable aesthetic to a new level. She collaborated with the prestigious French haute couture house, Lesage, and the result is handmade, unique creations. Her collections are consistent in her visionary techniques, with which she creates a hymn to colors, almighty, influential prints, and above all, the wildest reaches of human imagination. It is a kaleidoscopic vision of the modern woman.

A self-evident climb
Who is the young designer whose fashion magazines from the front row follow the model Alexa Chung and Anna Wintour, editor American Vogue, one of the most influential people in the fashion industry? The 29-year-old designer, born in Athens, settled in London, where she creates and lives. She left Greece in 2003, when she studied architecture at Rhode Island School of Design moved to the USA. She soon changed her mind and transferred to Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design in London, where she graduated with a BA and MA in textile design. Originally designing patterns for interiors, it wasn't until after graduating in 2005 that she began flirting with patterns for clothing and the fashion industry. Already during her studies, she managed to sell some textile samples fashion house Bill Blass, and at the beginning of her journey she also worked for a fashion designer Sophia Kokosalaki. Her grand march of collecting design awards began in 2008, when she received her master's degree from the famous Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design. Her final master's collection was nominated for two awards Harrods and L'Oreal. This was the beginning of a unique fashion path, on which she was extremely helped by the New Generation (Newgen) scholarship, which was established in 1993 by the British Fashion Council and has been sponsored since 2001 Topshop. Before her, some of today's important, visible designers received the aforementioned help: Lara Bohinc, Christopher Kane, Matthew Williamson, Julien Macdonald... The award enabled her to present her own collections at London Fashion Week for a whole six seasons, where she debuted with the autumn/winter 2008 collection .

"When the everyday becomes noble."

Prize collector
4 years have passed and today her creations are sold worldwide in more than 60 stores. They appear in the most prestigious and recognized fashion magazines such as Vogue, Dazed&Confused, Grazia, Elle... It is in 2010 "princess of prints" received another prestigious award, the Swiss Textiles Award, for her spring/summer 2011 collection. Inspired by the artist Rene Magritte and images of interiors, she named it Ceci n'est pas une chambre (This is not a room). Imbued with prints of fully furnished rooms, surreal images of interiors, extravagant living spaces, gardens, terraces and swimming pools that the rich and famous enjoy in their homes. She complemented the luxurious patterns with embroidered fringes, metallic patchwork and curtains fluttering from the shoulders or hips. She added another one to her collection of awards in 2011: the Emerging Talent – Ready-to-Wear Award at the British Fashion Awards 2011. It's clear that the designer is taking her piece on the field, which she masters supremely. He does not consider himself a game of others, but builds his own playful, design empire that has nothing in common with other designers. She shook the fashion world with her illusionistic technique, which sets new standards in the art of surreal digital printing. Her list of regular customers is getting longer every day, and among them are more and more celebrities. Fashion icons have also joined the list of subscribers Anna Dello Russo, a model Yasmin Le Bon, the daughter of Carina Roitfeld Julia Restoin-Roitfeld, a renowned model Karolina Kurkova and many others.

Everyone wants their signature Mary
Since the designer is currently very much adored and besieged, many large corporations would like to add their pot. The last collection she designed for the British low-cost fashion chain Topshop, hit the stores in February 2012. In no time, it was snapped up by both celebrities and other fashionistas who wanted their own piece with Mary Katrantzou's signature. The Spring/Summer 2012 collection marks her third collaboration with Topshop. Digital prints, structured silhouettes and quality materials make up a special line that includes dresses, tunics, overalls, leggings, pants, scarves... Clothing with her recognizable signature. She also lent her signature to the French bag manufacturer Longchamp, with which they created a collection for spring 2012. The designer introduced her own interpretation of the theme of East Meets West into the bags, which included images of Asian temples, floral paradises, dragons and lanterns. also the architecture of Carnegie Hall. Sculptural images, reinforced with strong colors and placed in the very center of fashion accessories, are not lacking in this collection either. Again, she managed to flawlessly master and place the thrust of the collage technique, which is her trademark.