Discovery
The connection with Mary Katrantzou which amplified the discovery of her brand, which I had made years ago, would never have occurred had it not been for my hip replacement in November 2016. Attempting unsuccessfully to hoist myself into a high car after my first post operative nocturnal outing.
Katerina her mother, greeted me. A small immaculately coiffed lady approached me and with a commanding presence greeted me and renewed our acquaintance after many years. An exclusive interview with the Huffington Post was duly arranged and my actual discovery of Mary’s multifarious talents and a fortuitous friendship resulted from it.
High fashion is all about mannered and deliberately remote personalities, each inhabiting a preciously curated world of their own. Mary Katrantzou’s smile on the other hand is as real as her vast range of talent. In addition to her own, hugely successful output of clothes and accessories, she has collaborated with Moncler, Longchamp, Adidas, NYC ballet and L’ Opera de Paris, Swarovski, Victoria’s Secret and Moose Knuckles. Her singular prints lend themselves to the creator’s luxuriant scarves. We are featuring a bold floral paint by numbers design.
High fashion is all about mannered and deliberately remote personalities, each inhabiting a preciously curated world of their own. Mary Katrantzou’s smile on the other hand is as real as her vast range of talent
Memory
Mary grew up with two dynamic entrepreneurial parents, her father being the owner of the landmark Athens department store, Katrantzos Sport and her mother had one of the most well known stores for lighting fixtures. She developed a love of painting and drawing, inspired by the pages of Architectural Digest and World of Interiors, which she tore out as a child. This affinity to images led her firstly to the Rhode Island School of Design to study Interior Architecture but this ultimately led her to where she had always yearned to be, in the hallowed corridors of Central St Martins Design School under the tutelage of Louise Wilson. Katrantzou has been able to carve and sustain her own niche in the competitive world of the garment industry. Her bold statements are unmistakably hers. She has adopted a unique fashion directive of an elegant mix of embellished prints, layers of lace and brocade finished with her singular boldness.
Mary has adopted a unique fashion directive of an elegant mix of embellished prints, layers of lace and brocade finished with her singular boldness
Narration
Mary’s creative process is fluid, open as it organically grows. Her print aesthetic is mixed with a purity of shape and form and the best craftspeople in her Italian manufacturing facilities. Despite being stocked in the best stores in the world, Barneys, Matches, 10 Corso Como among many others and having a strong visual identity which makes her online sales very strong, the aim is to complete the brand identity not only with accessories, shoes, bags and jewellery, but also with home ware in the future.
The Katrantzou woman likes standing out. She is strong, witty, with an appreciation of design and the arts. She knows who she is. It is not by accident that Mary has dressed figures like Michelle Obama, Taylor Swift, Beyoncé, Lady Gaga and the late, great Zaha Hadid.
