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At a very young age I enjoyed making objects with different available materials. At some point I discovered fabric and learned how to make something that looked like clothing. I was fascinated by the process by which fabric could be transformed from an almost one-dimensional material into a three-dimensional object and the endless forms it could take. Curiosity about this process followed me until my late teens, when I decided to study fashion design. When I finished high school, I packed my bags and found myself in England to explore my curiosities.
I studied for 4 years, fashion design at the University of Derby’s Art & Design department and in 2002 I presented my first collection called Urban Pods at London Fashion Week. At the same time I worked as a designer at the Vexed Generation brand in London. The thriving dance music scene of the late 90’s in England, the various styles and cultural identities, opened a window to various aspects of fashion and shaped my aesthetic as a creator.Completing this cycle, I returned to Greece to continue my design pursuits. I worked as a clothing designer for almost 7 years at the Attrattivo brand in Athens, while designing and manufacturing a series of unique lighting for their stores.
In 2010 I sought to re-examine my own explorations and ideas on my own terms. Ignoring the signs of the coming avalanche of crisis, I decided to follow my personal path and founded the brand Elisavet Kapogiannni, focusing on the design of women’s clothing. I started my brand aspiring to become a definition/destination for the smart, sophisticated, modern woman who survives the chaotic life of the city, who defies the whims of fashion (trends) and seeks a better version of herself, through her personal costume exploration.
From then until now, I approach clothing as an organic construction, seeking a harmony between aesthetics, functionality and sustainability. The clothes combine classic tailoring with high-quality fabrics, which characterize their timelessness. It focuses on functional as well as decorative details, either in color or recycled leather, which are the trademark of the brand and complete its modern urban aesthetic.
The current silhouettes of my collections, with the kimono being a recurring theme, are focused on polymorphic outerwear and accompanying pieces in free forms that together create ensembles with structured layering. I like to play with the possibilities of the fit of a garment, blurring the boundaries of its fit/size on the body. The collections mainly consist of relaxed all year around silhouettes and one size almost androgynous clothes, with belts/accessories that change their fit to emphasize femininity without being provocative. It also includes polymorphic pieces, in the logic of “do more with less”, that can be worn in more than one way, creating multiple versatile sharp looks.With slow fashion as a reference point, each time I create a clothing collection like an art collection: it is limited edition, conceptually cutting edge and made to last.
I opened my first atelier on Mavromattaion Street in the center of Athens. Vassilis, my husband, also had his own painting and video art studio in the same space, so it was at the same time an endless source of artistic inspiration. Soon, the need to expand and to change the way I work were born. After certain trips to Berlin, where I saw colleagues co-locating their studios with their own sales areas, I decided to try this Berlin “model” myself. I moved my atelier to Psirri and combined it with my first shop.
After a few years there was a very important moment in my personal life that also became a defining moment in my work. In 2015 I became a mother. I decided that a cycle had closed and the focus of my creative explorations shifted to my daughter. At the same time, I took time to rethink many aspects of my work. I had the luxury of time to review the values of my life and work, to set new goals, renew my design and organize my next steps.
In 2017 I reactivated my atelier in a new space in Psirri and at the same time I opened my e-shop. In the same space my husband had his own atelier and alongside fashion and art we started working together on a series of video animations, through which we can talk creatively and with humor about the values of the brand. My love for design – this time emerging in animation – resulted in us founding vpkmotion. Without saying much, even during the lockdown, something that we started as a project exclusively for the communication of my brand, evolved into something else. So far we have managed through vpkmotion. to make a series of animations for 16 different brands in 6 different professional sectors.
My brand, dedicated since its inception to “slow” fashion, continues to operate with a project-based philosophy, creating capsule collections, instead of large-scale seasonal productions, through effortless design progress and the steady development of designer pieces, which, most of them, can be found all year round in my e-shop.
My ultimate goal is to someday extend my love of design beyond clothing, such as designing furniture and animation for educational purposes, focusing on what gets me out of bed every morning: delivering beauty and value through planning, with my daughter and my husband as allies.
The brand’s website: www.elisavetkapogianni.com
Contact: [email protected] +30 6938138453
Instagram: @elisavetkapogianni @vpkmotion
Photos: Tassos Vrettos @tassosvrettos
Make up: Maria Vogiatzi @vogiatzimariaa
Art direction: Vasilis Karouk @vpkarouk
Post production: @vpkmotion
