Bold Colours, Bold Designs
Georgina Skalidi, Tamara Mladenovic, Alexandra Bissa and Molly Virginia Made
Forget the subdued tones of greige or brown. The crisp light of winter highlights bold and vibrant colours which lift our mood and enhance our image.
These four designers handle colour with flair and creativity, melding hues and enriching tones with shape and contour, pattern and texture. Their originality will add a spark to your winter closet.
Georgina Skalidi
Georgina Skalidi’s signature product is the asymmetrical clutch bag made with a distinctive leather moulding technique. The brand’s range of products includes other unique leather items, such as wallets, belts and sandals, as well as an eclectic line of accessories, all handmade in Greece.
Georgina Skalidi established her brand in 2010 and she opened its first showroom in Skoufa Street, in Kolonaki, Athens. In 2011 opened their second location in Chania, on the island of Crete, where the brand is based.
Georgina perceives her bags as a type of sculpture. Her products are also inspired by her perception that every woman has a distinct personality.
The latest addition to the brand’s line of products are two handmade perfumes, which are made with 100% natural ingredients and are based on the benefits of aromatherapy.
Tamara Mladenovic
Tamara Mladenovic creates truly original objects, such as scarfs, handbags and jewellery, using the art of batik. She handcrafts her products which reflect her passion for embracing Asian art.
Tamara is based in Athens and started her practice in 2015, when she moved to Greece. Coming from an artistic family, she began painting from a very young age. She studied Fine Arts at the University of Arts in Belgrade, in Serbia. As she was profoundly interested in Asian arts, she continued her studies at the Indonesia Art Institute of Padang Panjang, where she became acquainted with the art of batik.
Tamara considers each one of her products a unique piece of art, and she executes all stages of production. For the dyeing of the fabrics, she uses plants and natural ingredients that she collects from her garden or from the forest.
Tamara also teaches traditional Indonesian dance.
Alexandra Bissa
Alexandra Bissa is a textile designer based in Athens. She designs limited edition handmade woven creations made of natural fibres.
Alexandra uses the ancient technique of weaving in order to make contemporary clothes and home décor: throws, scarves, cushions and men’s pocket squares.
Alexandra used to spend her holidays as a child in her family house in Metsovo, in Epirus, where she discovered her passion for handmade textiles. She has very vivid memories of her grandmother working on the loom and of the house richly decorated with weavings: covers for chairs, sofas, cushions, blankets and wall decorations.
Alexandra studied Interior Architecture in the Technological Educational Institute of Athens. After completing her studies, she moved to Metsovo, so that she could learn from her aunt how to use the loom. Alexandra then went on to study for a Master’s Degree in Textile Design in London, where she specialized in traditional weaving and learnt how to use an electronic loom.
Her creations can be exclusively cotton or wool, or a combination of both and are almost one-offs as she produces a small stock and then designs upon request.
Molly Virginia Made
Molly Virginia Made is a brand of hand sewn, marbled leather goods featuring sleek clutches, wallets, more capacious bags as well as visually stunning coasters which will grace any bar cabinet or coffee table.
They also produce artfully coloured earrings. The brand was founded by Molly Campbell in Richmond, Virginia in late 2016.
What differentiates the brand rendering it unique, is that each dyeing process yields an individual pattern of melded colours, organic shapes and fluid lines.
Molly’s background is in painting and drawing. Actually, her eponymous brand initiation was organic. In the winter of 2016, Molly was confined to her home because of the cold outside. Intending on making a wallet for herself, she begun dyeing a piece of leather discovering that the process was such compulsive fun, she could not stop at that one item. Thus, Molly Virginia Made began.
Molly’s products come in a full range of vibrant colours spanning references to flame, turquoise and goldenrod for the earrings.