DESIGNER BROUGHT GREECE TO LONDON.

Sophia Kokosalaki, who has died of cancer aged 46, was a London-based fashion designer who delighted the critics with her elegant, easy-to-wear creations inspired by ancient Greek, Minoan and Byzantine drapery and motifs, but with a contemporary twist.

Tall, with bleached blonde hair, in the early 2000s Kokosalaki emerged as one of the great talents of London Fashion Week. A master of draped and ruched jersey, and intricate pleated and sculptural leathers, she drew upon her Greek cultural heritage in an idiosyncratic way, incorporating classical drapery and Hellenic folk craft with gothic or rock’n’roll detailing.

She was greatly respected by fellow designers such as Alexander Mcqueen and Kim Jones, and her creations were worn by Chloë Sevigny, Kirsten Dunst and Jennifer Connelly, as well as by Sarah Jessica Parker in an episode of Sex and the City. But she also designed more realistically priced collections for Topshop and the online retailer ASOS.

Born in Athens on Nov. 3, 1972, to a civil engineer father and former journalist mother, Kokosalaki became interested in fashion while studying for a degree in Greek and English literature at the University of Athens. “I didn’t care about the way I looked. I was the good student type,” she recalled.

“Then one day I realized that appearance was important ... It was superficial, but it was important. It was not an intellectual need, but an emotional one.”

Moving to London, she took a Master’s degree in women’s wear at Central St. Martins College of Arts and Design, graduating in 1998 with a degree collection that attracted the attention of leading fashion writers.

Kokosalaki introduced her own label at London Fashion Week in 1999, and in 2000 she was appointed guest designer at the Italian leatherwear manufacturer Ruffo Research, where her collections in 2001 won her a contract to design two capsule collections a year for Topshop and earning her that year’s Daily Telegraph Young Designer award. Kokosalaki was appointed chief designer for the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens.

Kokosalaki didn’t fit the fashion-show stereotype. In recent years, she retreated from the show circuit and was spending much of her time in Crete. In 2015 she designed uniforms for Aegean Airlines cabin crews, and in 2017 she turned to fine jewelry.

She is survived by her partner Antony Baker, the managing director of her brand, and by a daughter.