Remember Tomorrow

Ioanna Kourbela is a Greek designer that happens to be a personal favorite! Few days ago I received not only the current season's Fall/Winter 11-12 lookbook from which you see my 3 most desired looks above, but also a very pleasant surprise (that unluckily for me, luckily for you I cannot attend).

Save the date! Sunday 18th December at three o'clock at Andrianou 109 and Hatzimihali 12 str, all season's xmas bazaar 50-70% off plus a super contest organized by Athens Voice for two male and two female complete Ioanna Kourbela looks as christmas gifts!

Madame Shou Shou

Thanks to Tonia, some days ago I discovered a new Greek brand under the name "Madame Shou Shou".

Initially dragged by the careless-colorful-so-Greek mood of the photoshoots for the first two collections, I wanted to learn more about the designer Elina Kordali. For this reason, I decided to ask her in person. Enjoy the interview and don't forget to visit her fb page for more details on her collections!

" I have studied Fashion design at Instituto Marangoni in Milan and afterwards I did a Master in fashion styling at IED in Barcelona. Madame Shou Shou started on April 2011. The 2nd winter collection is already in stores

Usualy I name my clothes after the people I love most,my favourite piece from my winter collection is a brown jacket which i named after my most loved person in my life , Paul.

All the fabrics of my collections as well as the production are 100% "made in Greece". From the very beginning I knew that I wanted it to be this way. I don't know if it will be a positive decision but at least I'm happy to be helping even like this, these difficult times.

In the beginning it was very difficult to find the contacts, but now I can definitely say that I am satisfied both for the price and quality of the materials I'm using.

Designer or Stylist?...

I am a designer but in all the photoshoots I realise how much my studies and my knowledge of styling have helped me. I think that my Fall/Winter collection combines casual with theatrical. All the clothes are made of very soft and comfortable fabrics while at the same time their lines are very romantic as if created in the past eras.

I love traveling, I am leaving in  a few days for one month round trip in South America. I think that this trip will make me more inspired that why the Summer Collection 2012 will have a lot of influences of these places...

A webpage as well as the eshop of Madame Shou Shou will be soon online so stay tuned!

pic source: all pics taken from Madame Shou Shou's fb page

Forte_Forte

Forte_Forte is designed and produced in Italy by Giada Forte and Paolo Forte (double the forte and you get a brand name!).

Some more info about the brand, as I found in the Tranoï webpage, is that the collections are made exclusive with Italian fabrics rich in special finishings and lovely hand-made details. Furthermore all pieces are embellished by precious embroidered labels, decorated with tiny enchanting jewel charms, and sold in small perfumed bags.

find out more about the brand in the official site!

DElight S/S 2012

At the same time that I'm burying in the back of the closet all the summer clothes and try desperately to find some warm Winter alternatives, DElight publish their Spring/Summer 2012 collection's lookbook! Rather familiar feeling, instant DElight recognition and some very well structured shirts and jackets from what I can tell so far!

Above are my 3 most favorite pieces! Follow DElight on Facebook and like yours.

Lazzari

Lazzari is an Italian brand with -apparently- really cute clothes that I discovered some days ago! What you see above is the lookbook of the Spring/Summer 2011 collection which I know, is already a past collection but I couldn't help but post these pictures as I really like the color pallet and the concept!

Pastels seem to be in trend even for the next Spring/Summer 2012 so I'm thinking of embracing it even during Winter!

Whyte_Bianco di Partenza

15 students from ISIA-Polimoda's Fashion Design course presented their creations a few days ago at the Contemporary Centre of Art EX3! Fellow students, teachers and the fashion crowd of Florence was there to see live the creations of the new designers!

As a teacher later mentioned to me ISIA is a more artistic institute and that's the reason why the 15 students presented more conceptual collections than stictly wearable ones. Here you can see my three most favorite collections.

Giulia Betti collection's name was 263 and was a mix of the Red Riding Hood and fairytale animal creatures!
 

Ieliena Mojarova with the collection "Wing Walkers" that was highly applaused

and the most wearable collection according to me, Sarah Proietti's Femdom

Each student had a unique theme, music soundtrack and presentation something that added extra points to the whole event!

Last picture taken from ISIA Design official site.

Made in...

As this is a rather personal blog, I wanted to share with you a change of my way of thinking in regards to a reality that is more and more experienced around me lately. I live in Florence for more than 9 months now and what is really obvious is how proud the Italians are for their famous etiquette “made in Italy”. If this etiquette is stronger or weaker than before is a matter that I wouldn’t like to mention right now but at least the etiquette remains strong in the minds of everyone as synonym to high craftsmanship and quality.

 What I realized these past few months is how much Greece is strong in imports. Like the fact that we had Starbucks way before Italians have had (the first Starbucks is rumored to open in Milano soon) and Inditex brands such as Uterque and Oysho that opened in Athens before approaching other more important European cities first. Well, nothing is wrong with that for sure and personally I felt rather proud that I had something that others didn’t have yet, but in such a plentiful environment is normal that we…well I, forgot something.

…How little I cared if something was made in Greece or abroad. And here I am today reading about these foreign brands such as The Row of the infamous Olsen twins that is predominantly manufactured in the USA. As Ashley Olsen says, "I really believe in our ability to be able to create here and utilize the skills that people have here. The skill set is here... But whether it's cars or clothing, I believe in manufacturing as close to home as possible." Then, there is another “celebrity” brand that is doing really well, Twenty 8 Twelve of the Miller sisters that for the first time this Autumn/Winter season they attempted to manufacture on home turf with a limited edition collection exclusively “made in England”.

 Made in…should count a lot more these days and as fashion is concerned, we shouldn’t forget about the existence of Greek brands. From Attrativo to Badila and from Ioanna Kourbella to the new generations of Greek designers, we should care a little bit more about our choices and consuming habits!

 p.s. well I also remembered this post of dearest Alecca Rox. Check if you haven’t done yet!

pic sources: style.com, vogue.co.uk