MARY KATRANTZOU

The 38-year-old born in Greece designer is a graduate of the Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design and a citizen of London. Mary Katrantzou founded her label 12 years ago – with an ultimate success. Graphic prints and feminine silhouettes are typical of her style. Katrantzou loves to play with trompe l’oeil effects and symmetry, also introduces her fine avant-garde into all areas of her own universe. After collaborations with interior producers, she stroke a bargain for collaboration with Roman jeweler Bulgari. For the Italian jewelry house she designed three bag models and subsequently the bottle of the new fragrance “Omnia”, which was conceived by Alberto Morillas.

Back then, when Elsa Schiaparelli and Coco Chanel shared the Paris fashion scene, female designers have not had a comparable value to today. Do you think it’s possible to speak of a specifically “female” view of fashion?

I think we are seeing a paradigm shift around the world that is allowing women to find their voice, and that is also happening in fashion. Seeing female designers succeed both at the top of major maisons and with their own brands will encourage more and more young women to make their own way into the industry. And I think women have built a mutual support system, I’m glad to be a part of it.

How did you unveil your passion for fashion?

As a girl, I never thought of becoming a fashion designer, I painted and was interested in interior design. That’s why I studied architecture in America, at the “Rhode Island School of Design”. Later, when I moved to London, I discovered fashion for myself. What I’m really interested in is the freedom to work in different creative disciplines to enhance the brand I’ve built.

Did your personal look affect how you design the collections?

I get asked all the time why I always wear black. By the time I started my brand 12 years ago, I was wearing colorful clothes.

The transition was slow, and it was not a rational decision, but rather a subconscious one: at a certain point I stopped thinking about it, and black became my sign. I spend my days in the atelier choosing between colours and prints, so black has become an equilibrium. I try to simplify everything that is not related to my work as much as possible so I don’t waste time on it. Everybody takes me for a maximalist, but I’m also a purist. Since I like to find harmony between seemingly dissonant elements, it is important to create an empty space around me so I can focus on what I want.

How would you define yourself? And what are the personal qualities that have brought you to where you are?

I am optimistic, determined and loyal. I think it is crucial to believe in yourself, listen to your instincts, be able to fully focus on one thing and not be afraid to make bold decisions.

Your clothes are a mix between technology and tailoring ...

In the beginning, I used technological innovations to bring in prints in the female waredrobe, focusing on textile innovations to push the boundaries of what you can create through prints. Now I’m more interested in the story behind it. In why are women attracted to the uniqueness of my designs. It’s about filtering beauty through design and creating a world that can become a medium through a visual language. Your designs were shown at the “Met” in the exhibition “Camp”, and before that the “Dallas Contemporary Museum” dedicated an exhibition to you. I feel both honored and extremely humbled when I think that I have participated in exhibitions at both the “Met” and the “Victoria & Albert Museum” or the “Cooper-hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum”. I think exhibitions are an extraordinary opportunities to make people think. Fashion also needs moments of pause, because of its hectic nature. An exhibition is an opportunity to recontextualize the complexity of one’s work. Every time I see different collections together, I’m surprised by the recurring themes that form a real thread. It’s similar to a cohesive conversation that evolves from season to season. I absolutely believe that fashion deserves its place in museums because it is a form of artistic expression that reflects our time and culture. The highlight of your journey so far was the fashion show at the Temple of Poseidon at Cape Sounion two years ago ...

“Wisdom begins in wonder,” my first couture collection, opened a new chapter for the brand. I believe that couture is the most responsible way to work for the future. Luxury is about exclusivity, and making valuable clothes that will be passed on to future generations is a way to avoid waste.

Do you think the British fashion system has been particularly supportive? Who were the personalities that played a key role in the development of your brand?

I think London encourages the diversity that designers bring from all over the world to live there. I don’t think that will change, because the meaning of all forms of art is to reflect society. Of course, society may vary, but I hope that London will continue to be a meeting spot for people who follow very different paths. I’ve worked hard to build my brand, but I couldn’t have done it without the help of personalities like the late Louise Wilson (former teacher at “Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design”, ed.) who trained me, Caroline Rush from “BFC” and Sarah Mower (journalist and ambassador for emerging talent at “BFC”, ed.) who “discovered” me at my graduation exhibition at Central Saint Martins.

Who are your favorite designers?

Elsa Schiaparelli, Christian Lacroix, Alaïa, Yves Saint Laurent, Jean Paul Gaultier, Pierre Cardin, Coco Chanel, Vivienne Westwood, Rei Kawakubo ... All visionaries who have created so much beauty that they will continue to inspire generations to come.

Which dress, among those you have created, are you most attached to?

The dresses I have the strongest emotional attachment to are two: the “perfume bottle dress” that opened my first show in 2009, which we remade for the brand’s tenth anniversary, and the “paint-by-numbers model” I designed two years ago for Cate Blanchett, president of the Cannes Film Festival jury. Meeting an actress I admire in person and working with her and her stylist Elizabeth Stewart was fantastic.

Joining the family business in 1994, Silvia Venturini Fendi represents the third generation of the fashion dynasty founded in 1925 by her grandparents Edoardo and Adele. Success was coming: In 1997, she designed the legendary “Baguette” model, the first It bag. Since 2000, she has been responsible for men’s fashion, and after the death of Karl Lagerfeld, she also briefly took the charge of the women’s collections. Passionate about cinema, she has produced several films by Luca Guadagnino.

At the moment, perhaps for the first time, women are being properly noticed in fashion. Do you feel this change as well?

I think women have always had a prominent role in the fashion world, but maybe today it is more noticeable because of the sensitivity of the issue. As women, we have always had to fight to get what we wanted in the business world, and yet we have had the ability to manage both the professional and personal aspects at the same time.

When it comes to fashion, what have you learned from your grandmother, your aunts and your mother Anna?

As a woman in a world full of women, I admire and respect them all. They are strong characters who have had to assert themselves in a business world dominated mostly by men. As a result, they had to act more masculine and did not care about the non-essentials. After all, they were not only creatives, but also businesswomen.

Lagerfeld was the creative force at Fendi from 1965 to 2019. What has changed after he is no longer among us?

My work hasn’t changed since Karl left. I continue to work the same way. I don’t know if I chose this world or if, since I grew up in it, it chose me. I always wonder what I would have done if I hadn’t worked here. On the other hand, I am amazed - and proud - of what I have achieved.

Between the internal changes and the changes in the market, do you think accessories will continue to have such a dominant role in Fendi’s sales and perception?

I believe that today, more than ever, it is important to focus on iconic, timeless products. Objects that are meant to transcend generational boundaries and trends. This has also become increasingly important for the new generation. In a time when there are no strong trends in fashion anymore, everyone is working on their own story again.

It’s a moment of great rethinking for the entire fashion system: in which direction will Fendi develop?

You can’t make any predictions. Certainly, people won’t buy as much as they used to, at least for a while, so we can go back to the beginning.