Last day of 2010 and I found myself checking again all the posts I did during this year! The collage above captures some of the highlights such as..
- the trip I took to Zyrich for the exclusive preview of the Ebay Greek market.
- the backstage of the DElight show and all the shows I had the pleasure of viewing and covering...Designers such as Angelos Bratis, Yiorgos Eleftheriadis, Dimitris Petrou, Sotiris Georgiou and Alexis Barrell were some of my most loved ones this year!
- the interviews I did with some of the most admired newcomer designers and stylists. Alexis Barrell, Myrto Stamou and stylist Celestine Cooney thank you from the bottom of my heart!
- The Toi x Moi video (that has 3.455 views the moment we speak -MAJOR WOW!) and of course the collaboration for the Toi&Moi x SoHo Symposium tote bag.
- Another D.I.Y that I'm really proud of are the tees I made along with other fashion bloggers for the Stylewatch Fashion Playground event.
- The magazine photoshoots and interviews. Glamour, Lucky, Tachidromos, Big Fish, Look and Close Up among other mentions in Free Press and Internet. Most of all I'm feeling lucky that through this blog I was able to talk with photographers and journalists I really admire.
- Last but not least, the pleasure of meeting young Greek fashion designers like Pavlina of Ippolito, Paul Sarz, Georgina Skalidi, discovering new brands online like LP33.3, Karla Spetic, Scanlan & Theodore and Lauren Moffatt and of course having the pleasure to speak to renown designers such as Loukia! I seriously feel blessed!
Out of the list now, I want to thank you all for your comments, tweets and mails! After all we're all here because we love fashion/style and we want to discuss everything about it in this SoHo symposium! Hope 2011 will be even more fashionable and exciting! Happy New Year!p.s. for all the links mentioned above just scroll down and click on the blog archive!
These holidays are very special for me as I'm about to leave abroad and I try to spend all my time with my friends and family! Excuse me for the lack of posts but I promise everything will go back to normal once I settle down to my new home!
Till then, I wish you a Happy New Year and as Lopi said in this post Relax, eat, drink and be merry! One of the greatest things that have happened these days is that I received some of the most precious gifts! Maria was one of the Toi&Moi x SoHo symposium tote bag winners and she was kind enough to send me a pic of herself holding the bag! Her saying that she carries every day her laptop to work inside my bag was a true gift for me! Thank you girl!Happy Holidays to all of you!lanvin snowball pic source: anothermag
You are already familiar with Alexis Barrell from this post. I was introduced to her work during the previous Fashion Week and I loved it! When I learned that she had studied and worked in Italy and New York but decided to present her very first collection in Greece I found it intriguing enough and I decided that it was actually time to meet her in person!
So, SoHo symposium friends and family...in this post you get to see exclusively the mood board and some sketches and fabrics from her next Autumn/Winter 2011-12 collection! I was lucky enough to see some of the new clothes of the collection and I'm already loving them all! 
Let me just give you a hint of what to expect! Some of the fabrics used are digitally printed, meaning that you won't find them elsewhere as Alexis designed them all by herself. This technique is quite common abroad but here in Greece -correct me if I'm wrong- is not so popular and it's a shame as designers have the possibility to create garments that are theirs 100%.
Another small hint is that Alexis loves Swing so the Fall/Winter collection will be a little bit influenced by that! That's all I can reveal now and the fact that you can expect some accessories, too! 
For more info you'll have to be patient and wait and in the meantime enjoy the Q&A that Alexis gave to me!
Alexis, you lived and grew up in South Africa, then went to Paris, New York and now Athens. How can the style of each city be described according to you and what was it that you loved the most about Greece that made you come and live here at last?Paris has a traditional elegance, New York an open, more unique form of expression. Athens possesses a certain freedom and depth which I really identify with.
Do you believe that a designer can start a fashion business in Greece as successfully as abroad?
I believe that as the world becomes a 'village', the place in which you work holds increasingly less importance. In any country, starting a business takes extreme determination. With the economic situation as it is, I think Greece could benefit from young entrepreneurs with a positive attitude.
Your Spring/Summer 2011 collection is full of ethereal and delicate clothes- ideal for the warm summers in Greece. What were your inspirations and which is according to your imagination the lifestyle of the woman that wears Alexis Barrell?
The inspiration for the collection was a Greek island summer - crisp colours, clean lines, geometrical patterns, casual elegance and freedom of movement. The woman who wears "alexis barrell" is a traveller, an explorer, a cultured and feminine character who is not afraid to show her soft side.
You presented your first collection at E.Δ.Ω. gallery, a very modern and new place around town. Do you find that smaller places like galleries can express a designer's aesthetic better?
I used to have my showroom at EDW, so I have a personal connection with the place. I feel that designers should choose venues which emphasize the meaning of the particular collection. It seemed that this collection fitted well in a clean space, filled with sensitivity and free-thinking.
Describe your style in 4 words. Which is your favorite piece of clothing right now and where do you go for shopping in Athens?
Feminine, poetic, sensitive, decontracte. At the moment, my favorite piece of clothing is a beaded dress with a 20's silhouette from the new AW/11-12 collection. I do not go shopping, but if I did, I would go to Shop in Monastiraki, or Ippolito in Plaka for her lovely handbags.
Alexis Barrell
Skoufa 50
10673 Kolonaki
Athens – Greece
Saw the Divine Comedy yesterday night and today I woke up with the thought that Neil Hannon must be one of the smartest people I recently saw. He managed to make everyone laugh in a concert that no one went thinking that would happen... (if you haven't heard "A lady of a certain age" yet you should do it now link.)
As for the fashion note of the day...I cut my hair short 4 days ago but I was so shocked that I couldn't even stare at myself in the mirror! Now, I must admit that I like them this way. At least, it's a change after more that 5 years of long hair!
