Laskaris: Greek fashion designer’s magical runway show shines bright in Paris
When it was announced that Laskaris’ haute couture show at Paris Fashion Week Fall -Winter 17/18 would take place in between the two shows of luxury brand Chanel, everyone knew something special was about to happen.
The Greek designer’s runway parade titled “Prisma” was held at the tunnel “Faust” next to the Seine River, hosted by Parisian Press Office Méphistophélès Productions and under the auspices of Ada Iliopoulou, head of the Greek office and in charge of selecting Greek designers that would present in Paris.
Faust was an old tunnel in Paris and the room where the show took place was black but a white light path on the catwalk brought the ‘Light of Creative Power from Greece’, with it as Laskaris’ stunning clothes were on display and a soundtrack made up of exclusively Greek artists was playing in the background- leaving everyone in the room amazed at the sights and sounds around them.
Steps were heard. A key unlocked the door. A bird popped up in the sky and Psarantonis’ voice along with Alex Kavvadias became the soundtrack music of Laskaris’ show at Paris Fashion Week.
The collection was enriched with 16 couture items, accompanied with handmade shoes, fur coats and leather with fur details from the Greek Company Iordanis Michaelides from Kastoria and specially designed jewellery from Greek Anapnoe. The dominant colours of the collection were black, red, white, gold and the fabrics were wool and cashmere.
Clothes with pure geometric lines and style, reflecting the path that each carries with him from his own course of life. The path we lived in. Those we did not. And those we will pass.
The bold Greek element is always there. In the mind of Laskaris, Giorgio de Chirico meets Engonopoulos. At the same time, the authentic Greek mood comes straight out of the heart and despite the adversity, it does not ground us. It takes us off to the power of the spirit and the desire for positive action.
''My job is nothing but a reflection of what I think, I feel, I try, I manage. Knowing to look at a situation with the eyes of the mind is tantamount to seeing the greatest possible objectivity. I see means ... I invent. This is the true nature of thinking”, says Laskaris
Laskaris's Prisma is a collection of garments, a collection of experiences that lead from the darkness of the circumstances to the Light, to the Greek Light, but also to the Light bearing those who continue to create, insist, try for a better future.
This collection reminds us that the Light changes everything. Hellas means Light, light in the darkness of the world. The final dress-wedding gown in motifs embroidered in Thrace, cut and mounted with organza, fur and butterflies bringing the rebirth, was the highlight of the collection.
For the first time in the fashion week of Paris, Ada Iliopoulou dared to use an exclusively Greek soundtrack with well-known artists. ''I wanted to show along with Laskaris another creative range that embraces the traditional element with modern perception, just as with the designer's clothes. Many said not to do so. The artists, however, immediately accepted my proposal and Laskaris was excited to accompany his own creations with such important music artists of our country. Finally all journalists were thrilled. We wanted the whole planet to hear Psarantonis in a modern composition such as the return of Odysseus ''The Return '' by Alex Kavvadias and Manos Sfyrakis from Crete, to meet Christos Stylianou whose music is already in the Buddha bar, to feel the sensual voice of Eleni Tsaligopoulou, to understand how we insist on creating in every direction in Greece with the song of my beloved friend Kostas Livadas ''Your Insistence'' with Eleonora Zouganeli. We wanted for all to understand how the Light of all Greek artists has power, of all Greeks who are still trying under very difficult conditions, and this power was united with the great talent of Laskaris. Because Hellas means Light and as long as there are creators and people who at each level try, only Light can bring with their work and their ongoing effort everywhere," says Ada.
*Photos by Méphistophélès Productions
