I grew up in Nafplion. I remember drawing dresses at the desk during class (my best friend used to tell me I was designing wedding dresses). I didn’t want to take panhellenic exams. I wanted to become a translator at the Ionian University in Corfu. The exams were in September. During summertime I was reading until late, while my friends and family were on vacation. I didn’t succeed and decided to continue my studies at the translation department of the French Academy in Athens.
Apparently, fashion found me and instinctively I decided to study at Veloudakis School. In the morning I was teaching French at the School of tourism professions in Anavyssos and in the afternoon I was studying at Veloudakis. From that moment on, everything that followed was somehow magical. I met and worked for Loukia for ten years. There, I believe, I learned what fashion means. I feel very lucky for this experience. When I decided to close this circle, I remember trying to experiment with patterns and making my first clothes.
My love for the French language met my love for fashion and that’s how MEUF was “born”. MEUF in French slang means woman, girl, chick, it is an anagram of the word femme (woman). Five years and seven collections later, I feel that everything happened spontaneously, without any plan. The love and obsession for what I do, help me to keep going.
Having some old fabrics in my archive, most of them not intended to be used for clothing, I started putting them together. A silhouette comes out of their shape. In this way I keep working on a collection. I am more interested in the textures and color range that characterize it. This is the reason I start by gathering different materials, textures and colors and not by drawing. I enjoy making a fabric from scratch, either by the technique of pleating, patchwork, stenciling, embroidery, appliqué, or putting relelli between the seams of the garment. This way a new shape emerges inside to the existing garment. The first collection was made with black color only, but with different textures: muslin, georgette, wool, suede. Over time I try to become even more abstract, but in every garment there is a handmade element, as in the last two collections, where I use knitwear.
It’s a little hard for me to think about the future. What I wish is to continue to love with the same intensity, what I do. By leaving space, the “new” and different ideas get their chance.
MEUF’ website:https://www.meuf.gr/
Communication: [email protected] – 6938889448
Photographs: Dionysis Andrianopoulos @d_andrianopoulos
Styling: Lazaros Tzovaras @lazarostzovaras
Make up: Vivian Katsari @vivian_katt
Hair: Thanos Samaras @thewitchofcapri
