Nefelia & A totem für elita.
I wanted to write this blog post, to present my friend's work and our recent collaboration for "Andydote" fashion fair in Athens. Loula Levedi is a photographer and visual artist, creating- besides sensitive art photos- extravagant silk scarves. All prints are products of her wild imagination and extraordinary talent. She has a unique way to merge our Greek history and mythology with pop culture. You will find mythological figures such as Hercules, fighting with Lernaean Hydra, poisoned with love, or the statue of Caryatis carrying E.T on her shoulders! Little ponies mix with hellenic doric columns and Aphrodite becoming a 3d figure. All of these, strangely enough, become luxurious items through her artistic manner. I fell in love with her work, as she did with mine, and we decided to collaborate and show our work together in a fresh fashion trade fair, Andydote- https://www.facebook.com/andydotefashionfair/
The result should be an example to all of us creators, as to how powerful joined forces can be. Loula shared my creative stories, and so did I for her, to potential clients who were impressed by our presentation. We already know, both of us, that our work is not applied to all tastes. It is unique, weird, personal, and people either fall in love with it or trespass it because it is not "in fashion". We don't follow trends, and sometimes that we tried to, it was a complete disaster. A totem für elita, is Loula's brand. I am not sure what the concept behind the brand name is, all I know is that "Elita" is one of her best girlfriends, and the rest sounds as dreamy as one wants it to be! What is important is the emotion that was born when I first heard it. The same emotion that is born every time I spend some time to "read" the stories in her scarves. They could be presented as paintings or collages as well, but I give it to her that she sticks to the scarves, because she wants every woman to be hugged by her story. So, she insists, to her fashionable art, and this year she presented a different collection. Etherial, softer, with Aphrodite as her main concept, emerging as a symbol of eternal beauty through the unique eyes of its talented creator. Loula Levedi's unique aesthetics become lush silk scarves to be felt like jewels around a woman's body.
For Andydote Fashion Fair, we decided to present our work in a different manner than the rest. Both our collections derive from our origin, our mythology, our history, our home, Greece. So it was more than natural to stick to an architecture that is familiar. White, cubist, straightforward but harmonious. We used white foam cubes in different sizes, that we combined in a puzzle of our own. Larger and smaller rectangles and cubes were placed in positions that we had already tested, so that they would act complimentary to our products and not distracting. We placed light behind our installation to give more depth to it, and then we started mix matching our work.
Our presentation
Antigoni Vintiadi_founder of "Andydote"
I have to say that for 4 days, we talked non stop to our clients, sharing with them the concept and visions behind our brands. Our presentation was part of who we are. Me , as an architect, and her, as a photographer, leading paths that were unknown while we were making our first steps in the fashion industry, learning from our mistakes but insisting on our dreams.
We have more to do, more to share with you, as long as we keep on. I am more than happy to have met Loula and her outer spaced brand, A totem Fur elita. Enjoy her work, follow her and don't forget to stick to your dreams too, no matter what!
