Mary Katrantzou (born 29 January 1983) is a Greek
fashion designer
Fashion is a form of self-expression and autonomy at a particular period and place and in a specific context, of clothing, footwear, lifestyle, accessories, makeup, hairstyle, and body posture. The term implies a look defined by the fashion in ...
who lives and works in London.
Early life
Mary Katrantzou was born in
Athens
Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...
, Greece to an
interior design
Interior design is the art and science of enhancing the interior of a building to achieve a healthier and more aesthetically pleasing environment for the people using the space. An interior designer is someone who plans, researches, coordina ...
mother and a father who trained in
textile engineering
Textile Manufacturing or Textile Engineering is a major industry. It is largely based on the conversion of fibre into yarn, then yarn into fabric. These are then dyed or printed, fabricated into cloth which is then converted into useful goods s ...
.
Katrantzou moved to the United States in 2003 to study architecture at the
Rhode Island School of Design
The Rhode Island School of Design (RISD , pronounced "Riz-D") is a private art and design school in Providence, Rhode Island. The school was founded as a coeducational institution in 1877 by Helen Adelia Rowe Metcalf, who sought to increase the ...
, but later transferred to
Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design
Central Saint Martins is a public tertiary art school in London, England. It is a constituent college of the University of the Arts London. It offers full-time courses at foundation, undergraduate and postgraduate levels, and a variety of shor ...
where she completed her bachelor's degree in 2005 and her master's degree in 2008.
["Fashion Case Study: Mary Katrantzou"](_blank)
Retrieved 24 July 2015
Career
![Katrantzou dress](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a9/Katrantzou_dress.jpg)
During her studies, she managed to sell some of her prints to
Bill Blass
William Ralph Blass (June 22, 1922 – June 12, 2002) was an American fashion designer. He was the recipient of many fashion awards, including seven Coty Awards and the Fashion Institute of Technology's Lifetime Achievement Award (1999).
Early ...
. Graduating from her bachelor course in 2005, Katrantzou switched her focus from prints for interiors to fashion
prints
In molecular biology, the PRINTS database is a collection of so-called "fingerprints": it provides both a detailed annotation resource for protein families, and a diagnostic tool for newly determined sequences. A fingerprint is a group of conserve ...
.
Whilst collaborating with
Sophia Kokosalaki
Sophia Kokosalaki ( el, Σοφία Κοκοσαλάκη; 3 November 1972 – 13 October 2019) was a Greek fashion designer based in London.Tamsin Blanchard, 'Sophia Kokosalaki hooks up with Asos', ''The Daily Telegraph'', January 21, 201/ref> ...
in 2006, she built up a
portfolio
Portfolio may refer to:
Objects
* Portfolio (briefcase), a type of briefcase
Collections
* Portfolio (finance), a collection of assets held by an institution or a private individual
* Artist's portfolio, a sample of an artist's work or a ...
for the Central Saint Martins master's fashion textiles course.
In February 2008, Katrantzou opened the Saint Martins MA Fashion show at London Fashion Week. Her collection was nominated for the
Harrods
Harrods Limited is a department store located on Brompton Road in Knightsbridge, London, England. It is currently owned by the state of Qatar via its sovereign wealth fund, the Qatar Investment Authority. The Harrods brand also applies to other ...
and the
L‘Oreal Professional Award. Katrantzou's graduating show in 2008 mapped out her signature style. It was themed around ''
trompe l'oeil
A trompe is a water-powered air compressor, commonly used before the advent of the electric-powered compressor. A trompe is somewhat like an airlift pump working in reverse.
Trompes were used to provide compressed air for bloomery furnaces ...
'' prints of oversized jewellery featured on jersey-bonded dresses.
These pieces created the illusion of wearing giant neckpieces that would be too heavy in reality. She also designed jewellery made out of wood and metal that were exact replicas of the prints.
Katrantzou's first
Prêt-à-porter
Ready-to-wear (or ''prêt-à-porter''; abbreviated RTW; "off-the-rack" or "off-the-peg" in casual use) is the term for ready-made garments, sold in finished condition in standardized sizes, as distinct from made-to-measure or bespoke clothin ...
collection was shown at the autumn/winter
London Fashion Week
London Fashion Week (LFW) is a clothing trade show that takes place in London twice a year, in February and September. Showcasing over 250 designers to a global audience of influential media and retailers, it is one of the 'Big Four' fashion wee ...
in 2008.
She was awarded NEWGEN sponsorship from the British Fashion Council for six seasons (S/S 2009 – A/W 2011).
Katrantzou's first ready-to-wear collection for Autumn/Winter 2009 debuted at London Fashion Week in February 2009, with the support of the BFC and the New Gen scheme. Despite a small collection of nine dresses, Katrantzou picked up 15 stockists including Browns, Joyce and Colette. The designer achieved show status the following season, in Autumn/Winter 2009.
For her spring/summer 2011 collection ''Ceci n’est pas une chambre'', a title inspired by
Rene Magritte's ''
Ceci n’est pas une pipe,'' she challenged the viewer by printing on her designs fragments of images borrowed from old issues of
Architectural Digest
''Architectural Digest'' is an American monthly magazine founded in 1920. Its principal subjects are interior design and landscaping, rather than pure external architecture. The magazine is published by Condé Nast, which also publishes internati ...
and
World of Interiors.
As she worked with volume, depth and perspective, the clothes acquired an engaging three-dimensional quality. "With digital printing you get that precision engineering where everything is marked around the body in a perfect way."
Her collections are now sold in over 200 fashion shops, including
Selfridges
Selfridges, also known as Selfridges & Co., is a chain of high-end department stores in the United Kingdom that is operated by Selfridges Retail Limited, part of the Selfridges Group of department stores. It was founded by Harry Gordon Selfridge ...
,
Harvey Nichols
Harvey Nichols is a British luxury department store chain founded in 1831, at its flagship store in Knightsbridge, London. It sells designer fashion collections for men and women, fashion accessories, beauty products, fine wines and luxury f ...
,
Barneys
Barneys New York Inc. is an American luxury brand founded in New York City in 1923. It has introduced major designers including Armani, Azzedine Alaïa, Comme des Garçons, Christian Louboutin, and Ermenegildo Zegna to the US market.
Barneys N ...
,
Neiman Marcus
Neiman Marcus Group, Inc. is an American integrated luxury retailer headquartered in Dallas, Texas, which owns Neiman Marcus, Bergdorf Goodman, Horchow, and Last Call. Since September 2021, NMG has been owned by a group of investment compani ...
, Colette,
10 Corso Como, Joyce,
Luisa via roma,
Mytheresa
Mytheresa is a German e-commerce luxury fashion company, with headquarters in Munich, Germany. Founded in 2006, it operates local-language based websites for international markets in English, German, Spanish, French, Italian, Arabic, Chinese and K ...
,
Hiphunters,
Stylebop, Opening Ceremony and
Net a Porter, and in 47 countries. A collection for
Topshop
TOPSHOP (originally Top Shop) is a British fashion brand for women's clothing, shoes and accessories. It was part of the Arcadia Group, controlled by Sir Philip Green, but went into administration in late 2020 before being purchased by ASOS (r ...
launched for
London Fashion Week
London Fashion Week (LFW) is a clothing trade show that takes place in London twice a year, in February and September. Showcasing over 250 designers to a global audience of influential media and retailers, it is one of the 'Big Four' fashion wee ...
autumn/winter 2010 and was available in shops in February 2011 and sold out within the first few days of its release.
Katrantzou's work has appeared in publications including
Vogue
Vogue may refer to:
Business
* ''Vogue'' (magazine), a US fashion magazine
** British ''Vogue'', a British fashion magazine
** ''Vogue Arabia'', an Arab fashion magazine
** ''Vogue Australia'', an Australian fashion magazine
** ''Vogue China'', ...
,
Dazed & Confused, and
Grazia
''Grazia'' (; Italian for ''Grace'') is a weekly women's magazine that originated in Italy with international editions printed in Albania, Argentina, Australia, Bahrain, Bulgaria, China, Croatia, Colombia, France, Germany. Greece, Indonesia, I ...
. She is one of the designers of
Città dell'arte Fashion.
February 2012 saw the release of her collaboration with
Longchamp creating a capsule collection of bags and totes. To promote them Vogue Japan gave away a plastic card case with Katrantzou's prints with their May issue. Three prints featured in this collaboration over several different shapes and sizes.
In April 2014, Katrantzou announced she would be working with
Adidas
Adidas AG (; stylized as adidas since 1949) is a German multinational corporation, founded and headquartered in Herzogenaurach, Bavaria, that designs and manufactures shoes, clothing and accessories. It is the largest sportswear manufactur ...
'for the foreseeable future', both clothing and footwear.
Katrantzou sold a minority stake in her business to Yu Capital, the investment division of Hong Kong-based Yu Holdings, in October 2017. The terms of the deal were not disclosed, but it was said to have been part of Yu Holdings' founder and chief executive Wendy Yu's "wider plan to act as bridge for Western brands targeting Chinese consumers."
In 2018, Katrantzou celebrated the label's 10 year anniversary by showcasing her tenth-anniversary collection during September's
London Fashion Week
London Fashion Week (LFW) is a clothing trade show that takes place in London twice a year, in February and September. Showcasing over 250 designers to a global audience of influential media and retailers, it is one of the 'Big Four' fashion wee ...
. Katrantzou’s show was at
The Roundhouse
The Roundhouse is a performing arts and concert venue situated at the Grade II* listed former railway engine shed in Chalk Farm, London, England. The building was erected in 1846–1847 by the London & North Western Railway as a roundhouse, ...
in London, It is her imagination of the ordinary with initial vivid prints which the designer is known for.
At the end of 2019, Katrantzou returned home to Athens, where she showcased the SS20 collection. The show was dedicated to celebrating the 30th anniversary of the founding of ELPIDA, the Association of Friends of Children with Cancer, established by
Mrs Marianna V. Vardinoyannis.
Awards
In 2010, Katrantzou was awarded the
Swiss Textiles Award, succeeding
Alexander Wang.
In November 2011, Katrantzou was awarded the British Fashion Award for Emerging Talent: womenswear and in February 2012 was awarded Young Designer of the Year at the Elle Style Awards.
She received the 2015 BFC/Vogue Designer Fashion Fund including a 12-month period of mentorship and a £200,000 grant.
In 2015 she was awarded the British Fashion Awards – New Establishment.
Personal life
She is the daughter of Katherine Gouma and Mr Katrantzos.
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Katrantzou, Mary
1983 births
Greek fashion designers
Greek women fashion designers
Living people
Businesspeople from Athens
Alumni of Central Saint Martins
High fashion brands