Greek fashion making its mark globally
Though still a toddler when compared to industry giants such as France and Italy, Greek fashion is slowly making its own mark in the international arena of style. Much of its newly found success has to do with its relatively recently found unity – the establishment of the Hellenic Fashion Designers Association in 2003 and the subsequent development of Greek fashion week, namely the Athens Collections. Besides observing local and international fashion professionals attending their catwalk collections at the city’s Zappeion Hall, Greek designers are going beyond the country’s borders to reach new markets via exhibitions, showrooms and fashion shows. 080 Barcelona The summer season’s highlight is the presence of a Greek designer in a new Spanish week, 080 Barcelona Fashion is Everywhere. The event, which picks up the Catalan fashion torch following the end of Pasarela Gaudi and Pasarela Barcelona, is scheduled to take place for the first time July 9 to 11. Yiorgos Eleftheriades is the new fashion week’s special international guest, showing alongside fellow designers such as Teresa Helbig, Juan Pedro Lopez, Miriam Ponsa, Roberto Piqueras and Jose Luis Castro, among others. Besides promoting its local talent, 080 Barcelona is paying tribute to a legendary Frenchman of style, Thierry Mugler. The well-known French designer, currently celebrating 30 years in fashion, will present a retrospective show at the city’s Olympic swimming pool. Well known for his large-scale catwalk productions, Mugler is set to welcome about 3,500 guests. No doubt the city’s Maritime Museum will prove a much cozier venue for Eleftheriades’s show, scheduled for July 10. Greek fashion’s next stop is on July 13-15, when Katerinalexandraki travels to Berlin’s Premium exhibition. After Germany, the work of a group of designers will go on display at the Daniele Ghiselli showroom in Milan (September 20-30). So far, this group includes Yiorgos Eleftheriades, Mi-Ro, Vassilis Zoulias, Katerina Karoussou, Orsalia Parthenis and Dimitris Dassios. Greek talent will also be present at the Vendome Luxury Show at the Ritz hotel in Paris. Chara Lebessi, Costas Faliakos, Kathy Heyndels and Dimitris Dassios will present their collections at the luxurious venue from October 4 to 7.
