AXDW | 31st Athens Xclusive Designers Week 4th day
The 31st Athens Fashion Week closed with the New Designers Awards and a glamorous fashion show by Vassilis Zoulias. The 31st Fashion Week ended successfully with the spectacular show of Vassilis Zoulias. A multitude of famous people descended on the Athens Conservatory for one more day to watch the successful Greek designer’s show, while earlier in the day young and up-and-coming designers presented their collections.
AXDW | 31st Athens Xclusive Designers Week 4th day
New Designers Awards
The last day of the Fashion Week started with the fashion shows of 9 new designers and 2 fashion schools. Gina Alimonou presented the institution of the New Designers Awards, which enables the first winner to present his collection at a Fashion Week abroad. New talents presented collections with inspiration and resounding messages. Sophia Katsimicha opened the competition part of the New Designers Awards with her capsule collection “The Quirks” with a special emphasis on textures and colors that exude an aura of simplicity and sensitivity.
Atinati was inspired by her native Georgia and the idea of freedom. Metallic crinolines and cages imprisoned the models and challenged them to break free. Next came the Kekoa brand with ancient Greek women walking the catwalk. Each piece of the collection was the personification of a region of Greece according to the designer.
The second group of young designers started with the brand Athénée by Xenia Athanasiadi & Efthimia Papadothomakou. The “She” collection is dedicated to the woman, to the one who dares to wear both leather and velvet and sequins. Blue’s “Trauma” collection is a farewell to 2 members of his family. A handcrafted collection of clothing and jewelry that represents the wounds and emptiness of loss. The fabrics symbolized blood, sorrow and also rebirth. Leonie presented the “Dark Side of the Moon” collection, a cry for freedom. Man is under tremendous pressure from the modern way of life and it’s time to change it and break free.
The third and final group started with Best New Designer Award winner Malena. The winner of last year’s Fashion Design Project by Answear was inspired by Greek traditional costume with red, white, black colors and embroidery dominating her collection. The name of the collection “Roots” invites us to reconsider the relationship with our roots, with our past, from which the younger generations are increasingly moving away. Next came ND & EL by Nadia Duka & Emmanouela Liagkou, winners of the Best Trendsetter award, with the collection “Less is more”, an elegant and minimal collection with airy fabrics and wonderful prints drawn by the artist Emmanouela Liagkou while Nadia Duka designs the clothes.
Finally, outside the competition, the newly emerging brand Maharasi, which had participated last time in the young designers, presented its new collection. Colors, airy fabrics and handmade shoes as a complete proposal. Romina Karamanea’s faculty and specifically the first year students of the Fashion Design, Technology and Manufacturing program were asked to design and create a disruptive sustainable collection aiming for the smallest possible environmental footprint. The theme of the collection was the beloved and timeless LBD (Little Black Dress).
The day continued with the award ceremony of the Young Designers in a very enthusiastic atmosphere.
The ceremony was presented by the glamorous Gina Alimonou, as a genuine representative of fashion and beauty, who even announced for the first time at the event, her new venture, the creation of her own beauty brand “goodlifebygina” and goodlifebygina.gr. The difficult task of the jury was undertaken by journalist Chris Lavish from fashionweekonline.com, Elena Stavrinou buyer from London, Ifigenia Pleuraki journalist at Huffington Post and Orsalia Partheni, designer and President of the Greek Designers Union.
The Best New Designer award was awarded by the president of Athens Xclusive Designers Week, Mrs. Tonia Fousekis, to the winner, who, full of emotion, thanked her grandmother for her valuable help in creating the collection. Ms. Orsalia Partheni presented the Best Trendsetter award, while Ms. Sofia Manzana from DEPA awarded the Best Catwalk award.
The winners of the three awards were the designers:
Best New Designer: Malena
Best Trendsetter: ND & EL by Nadia Duka & Emmanouela Liagkou
Best Catwalk: Blue
AthensFashionClub in collaboration with the Portuguese embassy in Greece embraced Sustainable Fashion and presented an international project entitled “Sustainable Portuguese Fashion by Greek Emerging Designers”. Sustainable materials such as cork, hemp and nettle fabric, organic cotton and recycled polyester are combined together in an impressive Sustainable Fashion Show, following principles of Sustainable Fashion and Circular Economy.
Vassilis Zoulias
The 31st Fashion Week closed with the spectacular and 20-year anniversary show of the renowned Greek designer Vassilis Zoulias. The “We are family” S/S ’23 collection draws inspiration from the maximalist 90s. Intense colors from fluo orange, green to fuchsia – neon in explosive combinations and with oversized pie de poule in white and black filled the runway of the Athens Conservatory. Men’s jackets, all-day pyjamas, shorts, stylish kaftans and light holiday dresses in prints, polka dots and leopard prints.
Of course there was no shortage of favorite cocktail dresses with a new mini length. As always, Periklis Kondylatos adorned the looks with his imaginative jewelry made of plexiglass in various colors. Sante shoes completed the looks.
The family atmosphere of the collection was lifted by famous mothers with their daughters, where they walked the catwalk. Vicky Kaya with her mother Alexandra, Christina Politis and Hyakinthi Karaviti, Natalia Dragoumi with her daughter Cleo Roberts, Genevieve Mazari with little Rosalia, Jenny Oikonomou-Rizou with her daughter Natalie and Faye Bey with her daughter. The beloved sisters Anna and Thea Prelevich, Dorothea Merkouri with her sister Alexandra and Spyros Poros with his daughter Iro also made an impression.