About the fashion show in Washington D.C.
Phew… I find eventually some little time to write about my trip to Washington D.C., where I presented the most recent elements of my work, after being invited by Alliance Française of Washington D.C. (AFDC). As a person that finds interest mostly to people, feelings and experiences, I have very good reasons to write about all that in reverse order: starting from the people and then going to the rest.
First of all, I am very lucky that I met great people in Washington D.C. Starting from Sarah Diligenti and Natasha Zavadskaia, the Executive Director of AFDC and her Assistant on the Cultural Activities, I owe them a big “thank you” for inviting me and helping me during the event and all the days of my visit. Sarah is the person that had the insightful idea to start the series of “Beyond the Little Black Dress” fashion events, which this year reached its 4th edition and celebrated AFDC’s 70th anniversary. This is among the most prestigious events of AFDC and has major role in raising funds for their various cultural activities. Among the most astonishing achievements is the fact that all this event was practically organized by a handful of very energetic and motivated women…
It is always inspiring to meet such strong, intelligent, and independent women. Keep up the great work you do which empowers women! Myself, I came back to Paris fueled with strength and passion after meeting you!
Then, there were those two couples that were my hosts during my stay, Georgie and Patrick Gex, and Tracey and Marcio Duffles. It was more than a pleasure to meet such wonderful people and hosts, with whom I spent nice time.
The show took place at the Embassy of France in the US capital. There, I put my designs in perspective and display a composition with looks of my two earlier collections, followed by a new mini-collection. The new work reveals part of my inspiration and experimentation that I developed during the preparation of my upcoming full collection.
The inspiration for the new mini-collection came from my recent visit to Thomas Houseago‘s exhibition at the Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris. The exhibition was called “Almost human“. There, I came across one of his short quotes written on a wall:
“In a very general way, you could say there are two approaches in sculpture to the act of making: one tends toward removing traces of the hand and the physical activity of the artist, and the other emphasizes that activity…”
This reflected a lot the style I have developed, since I like to emphasize the traces of the hand by using hand-making techniques. This is because I like the garment itself to carry traces that highlight the process and the means of human creation that brought it to life.
Moreover, central elements in this collection are my bags that are part of my line of accessories that I am launching this period. You can read more details about this mini-collection here.
After the show, I received very warm comments by people of the audience. The audience had the chance to see elements from all my work so far that was the best way to introduce the brand and let people see bits and pieces from the the creative journey I’ve been these last years. The most important of all was the fact that several people confessed to me that they got a clear impression that my work has something new and different to say with its fashion statement and distinct identity.
Not to forget to mention that Washington D.C. is a very nice place to visit. Benefited from the excellent summer weather during my stay, and also from the kind hosts that were always ready to take us short tours at Georgetown, at the avenues full of embassies and international organizations, at the memorial sites, and of course downtown, I can say that we saw a lot for the little available free time. Although one should know that D.C. is a cosmopolitan metropolis with high concentration of U.S. history and modern diplomacy, it is surely a place where one can find it all.
Finally some words also for the shoes collaboration. For this show, the shoes were provided by the brand Desidei. For this, I need to greatly thank the shoe designer Aggelos Fylahtopoulos, and Chrisoula Koumpenaki (@greek_designers_more) who was the person that intermediated and helped a lot in this collaboration.
Photo credit: Bill Simmons
