2008/2009
AA_ Athenian Ateliers
during the time when Christian Dior was baptized ‘couturier’, offering to fashion history the ‘new look’, he was deciding on the style that Dior house should have, the atelier at number 30 of Avenue Montaigne. Maison Christian Dior, borrowed its colors from the Parisian designer’s childhood and adopted the unimpeachable elegance of the Ritz Plaza or of the atelier of mme. Madeleine Cheruit. The newly couturier had set, from the beginning an untouchable condition. The decor should be such so as not to distract the eye from his creations. in the same context, the workshops of six Greek designers result in a distinctive, personalized background which hosts their clothes in oversized protective nylon bags. With their windows oriented at pedestrian streets (Deux Hommes) or planted overdrafts (Loukia), with embossed walls of cardboard (YE) and Louis Quinze furniture (Vassilis Zoulias), the Athenian Ateliers bear the personal signature of each designer and introduce themselves as the second - and often the only – designer’s residence. Within buildings of the ’30s, with Thai cooking smells, with music notes from neighboring restaurants, each studio is a fragment of the city, a place where anything can be made possible. The patterns and the rehearsals, the sewing and the stitching. With an audience of aspiring stylists and friends, reporters, relatives and assistants. But with only one protagonist, as in the case of monsieur Dior. The inspiring clothes.
* For LOOK magazine_ Athens Voice_ 2008/ 2009
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Atelier #01
Angelos Bratis
AB: «I have royal chinese herbal tea, and a chinese maid to prepare it for you… you want some?»
Interview
01, Your creative identity in a few words.
Architecture. Movement. Shadow. Feminine.
02, The criteria in choosing your atelier.
Its beauty.
03, The former use of the building.
Family Residence.
04, Repetitive element in your creations.
Kinesis.
05, Stable element in your atelier.
The minimal approach; space as a tabula rasa.
06, Time needed for a cocktail dress.
5 days.
07, Key aspect of the atelier’s space.
The high ceilings.
08, You would shoot your next collection.
In the city of Shangai; as a unified background.
09, Characteristic of the clothing reflected in the interior decoration of the atelier.
Aphaeresis.
10, A fabric that could dress a building.
Soie – sauvage.
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Atelier #02
Vassilis Emanuel Zoulias
VEZ: «Everytime I enter this building, i hear the heels of the women from the Fifties, stepping down the stairs.»
Interview
01, Your creative identity in a few words.
Classic with a twist.
02, The criteria in choosing your atelier.
The building of Costantinos Capsabellis, in which it is located, bearing the bougeries and the elegance of the 1950′s.
03, The former use of the building.
Residence.
04, Repetitive element in your creations.
The, inexhaustible, past.
05, Stable element in your atelier.
My mother’s portrait.
06, Key aspect of the atelier’s space.
The Parisian frames and Louis Quinze furniture.
07, Where would you shoot your next collection.
In the National Theater. Or in the former Zonar’s cafe [What ever happened to Zonar's?]
08, Characteristic of the clothing reflected in the interior decoration of the atelier.
My clothes represent the party frocks in a ballroom.
09, A fabric that could dress a building.
Grey cotton; the one used for working suits.
10, How could architecture and fashion be combined.
When a dress will result from an art-deco building or from the silhouette of a Louis Quinze chair.
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Atelier #03
Maria Mastori – Filep Motwary
FM: «Why didn’t you say it was you?»
Interview
01, Your creative identity in a few words.
mm. Oversized, strong, plastic, light, sculpture.
fm. Easiness, modern, 3 dimensional.
02, The criteria in choosing your atelier.
High ceilings, free space, wooden floor, steel entrance.
04, Repetitive element in your creations.
Movement.
05, Stable element in your atelier.
Its constant alteration.
06, Key aspect of the atelier’s space.
The Bauhaus doors.
07, Where would you shoot your next collection.
mm. A train station [Piraeus].
fm. An art gallery [Ileana Tounta].
08, Characteristic of the clothing reflected in the interior decoration of the atelier.
The colors. Pieces from former collections that stand now as decorative pieces.
09, The golden section of fashion and architecture.
The creative process. Both commence from paper and conclude in three dimensional forms. Only scale changes.
10, How could architecture and fashion be combined.
See: Hussein Chalayan, Salvator Dali, Viktor&Rolf, Castelbajac, Zaha Hadid and Karl Lagerfeld for Chanel , Manish Arora for Bourse building.
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Atelier #04
Loukia
L: «My atelier is memory.»
Interview
01, Your creative identity in a few words.
New – Romantic. Aggressive. Futuristic.
02, The former use of the atelier.
An antique store. In the first days, we had to move all the antiques in order to reside here. I did not keep one single piece of them.
03, Your definition of luxury.
Luxury is the opportunity to watch a play in Covent Garden, at this very moment. Luxury is being able to do whatever you want to, the moment you want to.
04, Repetitive element in your creations.
The term ‘theatrical’.
05, Where would you categorize fashion.
In applied arts.
06, Key aspect of the atelier’s space.
A lace ribbon lying here for ages. You can add it anytime to a contemporary garment. My atelier is the people that comprise it. My family.
07, Where would you shoot your next collection.
In front of a building of Giannis Koukis, that resembles a pigeon. But i appreciate, respectively, the projects of Tompazis and Biris.
08, Characteristic of the clothing reflected in the interior decoration of the atelier.
Avant- guardia.
09, The golden section of fashion and architecture.
Mathematics. They are always present, from your haircut to the geometry of your dress.
Once, i designed a dress from 100 m. of fabric, which was being ‘awakened’ by a single gesture of the body.
It could occupy space.
10, Is style acquired or a matter of genes.
A matter of genes. But it can be enriched.
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Atelier #05
Deux Hommes
DH: «Trying to meet the naturally, or conventionally, opposites.»
Interview
01, Your creative identity in a few words.
New – Romantic. Retro – Futuristic. Modern and flexible couture. Realism with a friendly essence of leadership.
02, The former use of the atelier.
Chamber of Commerce of a foreign country.
03, The definition of chic.
A proper sense of proportions, the charming manners, the successful references and mainly, the desire for the new.
04, Repetitive element in your creations.
Baroque & Rococo.
05, Stable element in your atelier.
The white walls.
06, Key aspect of the atelier’s space.
The aesthetics of the building.
07, Where would you shoot your next collection.
In the Athenian Conservatory.
08, Characteristic of the clothing reflected in the interior decoration of the atelier.
The dialog of past and future.
09, A fabric that could dress a building.
Guipure lace.
09, The golden section of fashion and architecture.
The works of Cristobal Balenciaga.
10, How could architecture and fashion be combined.
If architecture obeyed human anatomy. If the technical study became invisible, along with the effort of constructing a garment.
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Atelier #06
Yiorgos Eleftheriades
YE: «All clothes in the atelier move accordingly to their own time.»
Interview
01, Your creative identity in a few words.
Organic not offensive, among a neutral palette of colors.
02, The former use of the atelier.
Tannery.
03, Personal breakthrough regarding your clothes.
The prediction of a personal mannerism.
04, Repetitive element in your creations.
The three-dimensional form of the volumes. An intense architectural structure. Geometry.
05, Stable element in your atelier.
The ‘Saturn’ table of the sculptor Nikos Papoutsidis. A personal persistence.
06, How would you characterize your clothes. Modern or Timeless.
Democratic.
07, Where would you shoot your next collection.
In the Coin Museum of Athens. A building-bijoux.
08, Characteristic of the clothing reflected in the interior decoration of the atelier.
An organic and friendly approach, toward man and his environment.
09, The golden section of fashion and architecture.
Their principles.
10, How could architecture and fashion be combined.
In an architectural model, constructed by sartorial materials.
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ps_ without the support of my editors: Stavroula Panagiotaki & Yannis Nenes,
my idea for the above would have remained just another idea.
