Greek Bridal Fashion: Real Treasures!

Bridal Fashion in Greece is an important part of the local fashion industry which is
blooming, despite all kinds of setbacks our country faces this moment. There are
designers who can fairly be called Haute Couturiers, talented enough to produce
magnificent wedding gowns for this special occasion. Innovation, technical expertise,
long-time experience and great sense of style are easily revealed through Greek
designers bridal collections. Since most couples in Greece still prefer the religious
wedding ceremony which requires a more sophisticated and dressy look, wedding
gowns are still an attractive option, almost indispensable for getting married. For that
matter, we could say that Greek designers are more specialized in bridal fashion than
in other genres of fashion design. This is an introduction to Greece’s major players in
bridal fashion, not only the old and established ones but also the upcoming stars with
an amazing potential and a very demanding, avant-garde list of clients. You can
find them all in Athens, where they have their adorable ateliers.

Konstantinos Melis by Laskos (http://www.konstantinosmelis.com/main.html). It’s a designer duo who is fresh and promising, a favorite for many local celebrities who appreciate their endless imagination and ability to apply it into wearable pieces of art. Their wedding gowns are an adorable transformation of classic patterns and a wonderful mix of vintage romanticism with modern eccentricity. Their wedding gowns are well-tailored, with both soft, light-weight fabrics and hard, accentuated details, all ending up to a harmonious, balanced outfit, perfect for your special moment. Each one of the gowns includes one or more surprise elements, making each bride unique. They both love lace, accentuated shoulders and waist, tulle and the interplay of features and transparencies.

Deux Hommes (http://www.deuxhommes.gr/). Very famous and successful, they have
worked on numerous bridal projects, including gowns for the more discussed and
praised weddings in Greece. Their showrooms, in Athens and Milan, are a source of
excellent style, elegance and luxury. Their gowns are usually story-telling, since they
borrow elements from beautiful moments in different periods and decades. They also
study a woman’s personality before making a wedding gown for her.

Celia Kritharioti (http://www.celiakritharioti.gr/site/). She is well-known for making glamorous, fairytale wedding gowns that can transform you into an awesome princess or goddess of love and seduction. She makes lace look even more seductive and crystal-studded embroidery even more sparkling. Celia is among the very few Greek designers who included in their bridal catwalk shows top models such as Claudia Schiffer, Naomi Campbell, Karolina Kurkova and Gisele Bundchen. Traditionally, most of her gowns are characterized by huge skirts and long trails while this season she makes a twist focusing on transparent, lacy and skin-tight maxi dresses, adorned with countless Swarovski crystals and feathers. For the first time she also employs the idea of a zipper instead of buttons and other clips in her dresses. Once you order her a wedding gown, she’s obsessed with building up in detail the whole concept of your wedding look, including matching dresses for the bridesmaids.

Loukia (http://www.loukia.gr/index.php). Far more theatrical than everybody else, the designer seems to play with the fabrics the way a painter easily mixes up different colors and changes textures. She is an artist with deep knowledge of each fabric’s nature and qualities. Her wedding gowns are full of asymmetries, layers, frills and transparencies, all playing around the female body, flirting with its charming contours. She shows no pity for lace, muslin or chiffon. She wraps, twists, curls, compresses, cuts and rips them, depending on the creation’s demands. For that matter, her dresses are difficult to explain how they are made by an external observer. She follows each time a different magic path that makes each wedding gown one-of-a-kind. Having strong connections with theater and responding to dress costume needs for selected performances, Loukia’s natural inclination is towards staging your own wedding look in the way you have dreamt of.

Vassilios Kostetsos (http://www.kostetsos.gr/). The designer who stands proud among many other famous ones at Mercedes Benz Fashion Week in New York for many seasons, with his own fashion show formerly at Bryant Park and now at Lincoln Center is a musketeer of natural femininity and an ambassador of modern Greek elegance. Mixing up features from ancient Greek culture the so called “Grecian Style” with futuristic elements, he creates avant-garde looks that attract attention both in Greece and New York. Vassilios is another Greek designer who has collaborated in his catwalk shows and campaigns with famous top models such as Kate Moss, Naomi Campbell, Cindy Crawford, Claudia Schiffer and Karmen Kass. He has a long career but he is still fresh, young and imaginative, a good example of Greek extroversion and boldness. Vassilios loves NY vibes as well as ancient Greek history, a blend that transcends his marvelous Aella Collection already presented in NY and his current bridal collection.

Vassilis Emmanuel Zoulias (http://www.vassiliszoulias.com/). His atelier is a dream place to be, like a garden in spring time or a room that smells of all the aromas of Old Athens and Paris. He loves films as well as the famous divas of past decades like Brigitte Bardot and Audrey Hepburn. He is romantic and positive by nature, which makes him the perfect person to meet before your wedding. Amazing tailoring, perfectionism, French finesse and deep fashion instinct make him a clear representative of chic, of everything retro but classic, what every woman will be searching forever. He loves bows, lace, 50s full skirts, floral embroidery, hats and fascinators, veils, gloves and matching shoes, all made by himself and his creative team. You feel like a princess at his place!

Celia D. (http://celiadragouni.com/). She belongs to the new talented generation of designers in Greece, with studies in London and Paris, working experience at Sonia Rykiel’s and an adorable Bridal Collection in Bohemian-style. She travels a lot, and gets inspired by this magic variety around her. Sometimes she buys vintage laces from local markets and applies them on her beautiful dresses. Both girly and classic, her gowns are younger brides major choice, since they are romantic, fresh, simple and sophisticated in terms of style. In Greece they seem suitable for weddings taking place in small country or seaside churches, in the islands or the countless, picturesque Greek villages.

Christos Costarellos (http://www.costarellos.gr/). He is among those Greek designers people are searching mostly in the internet for bridal gowns. His designs, inspired by Dante Gabriel Rossetti’s paintings and Irving Penn’s female portraits are rather demanding and complicated but in the end look simple and wearable. His work is impregnated with talent, generosity and deep knowledge. He knows how to control fabric and exploit creatively its merits. His delicate gowns are true pieces of art ready to fly with the Greek wind and glorify our many statuesque figures of female goddesses. You can feel like a modern Aphrodite in these dresses!

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