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 ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was fo ...

'', January 21, 201

/ref>'Little black book: Sophia Kokosalaki', in ''The Daily Telegraph'', October 23, 201

/ref>

Biography

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 ...

, of

Cretan Crete ( el, Κρήτη, translit=, Modern: , Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the 88th largest island in the world and the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, Sardinia, Cyprus, and ...

origin, Kokosalaki studied Greek and English literature at the

University of Athens The National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (NKUA; el, Εθνικό και Καποδιστριακό Πανεπιστήμιο Αθηνών, ''Ethnikó ke Kapodistriakó Panepistímio Athinón''), usually referred to simply as the Univers ...

, before moving to London, where she graduated from the

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 ...

Career

Kokosalaki started her eponymous label in London in 1999. She received an ''

Elle ''Elle'' (stylized ''ELLE'') is a worldwide women's magazine of French origin that offers a mix of fashion and beauty content, together with culture, society and lifestyle. The title means "she" or "her" in French. ''Elle'' is considered the w ...

'' designer award and the Art Foundation award for fashion in 2002 and a new generation designer award in 2004, and had regular editorial from ''Vogue'', ''

Harper's Bazaar ''Harper's Bazaar'' is an American monthly women's fashion magazine. It was first published in New York City on November 2, 1867, as the weekly ''Harper's Bazar''. ''Harper's Bazaar'' is published by Hearst and considers itself to be the st ...

'' and '' W'' magazines. In 2004, she was commissioned to design outfits for the opening and closing ceremonies at the

2004 Summer Olympic Games The 2004 Summer Olympics ( el, Θερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 2004, ), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad ( el, Αγώνες της 28ης Ολυμπιάδας, ) and also known as Athens 2004 ( el, Αθήνα 2004), ...

, which were staged in her home town of Athens. Over six thousand people were dressed by Kokosalaki for the

opening ceremony An opening ceremony, grand opening, or ribbon-cutting ceremony marks the official opening of a newly-constructed location or the start of an event.

, most notably the singer

Björk Björk Guðmundsdóttir ( , ; born 21 November 1965), known mononymously as Björk, is an Icelandic singer, songwriter, composer, record producer, and actress. Noted for her distinct three-octave vocal range and eccentric persona, she has de ...

who performed "

Oceania Oceania (, , ) is a region, geographical region that includes Australasia, Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia. Spanning the Eastern Hemisphere, Eastern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres, Oceania is estimated to have a land area of ...

" in an enormous ocean-inspired dress composed of many pleats and folds. Briefly, between 2006 and 2007, Kokosalaki was the first creative director of the relaunched Vionnet fashion house. Although Kokosalaki cites

Madeleine Vionnet Madeleine Vionnet (; June 22, 1876, Loiret, France – March 2, 1975) was a French fashion designer. Vionnet trained in London before returning to France to establish her first fashion house in Paris in 1912. Although it was forced to close in 1 ...

as one of her favourite historical couturiers, and her work was well-received, she was ultimately disappointed by the experience, and left after two collections to focus on her own label. Her style often featured classic Grecian draping combined with hand-crafted elements. While Kokosalaki was particularly known for draped, softly flowing dresses, her designs could also be architectural and heavily textured, and she worked in leather and tougher fabrics as well.

Personal life

Kokosalaki, who was married, with one daughter, died on 13 October 2019 after a brief illness with cancer.

References

External links

Official website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kokosalaki, Sophia 1972 births 2019 deaths Businesspeople from Athens National and Kapodistrian University of Athens alumni Greek emigrants to the United Kingdom Place of death missing Alumni of Central Saint Martins Greek fashion designers Greek women fashion designers