Mary Katrantzou was born in Athens in 1983, to an interior designer mother and a father who trained in textile design. She moved to America to study for a BA in Architecture at the Rhode Island school of Design, before transferring to Central Saint Martins to complete her BA degree in textile design. During this time, Katrantzou worked on a freelance basis as a print designer for Bill Blass. After graduating in 2005, Katrantzou shifted her direction from textile design to womenswear with a focus on print. In 2006, after working with Sophia Kokosalaki for two seasons, Mary developed her portfolio for the Central Saint Martins MA fashion course. She graduated in 2008 with honors.
Katrantzou opened the Central Saint Martins graduating show in 2008 and the collection mapped out her signature style. It was themed around "trompe l’oeil" 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 real jewelry made out of wood and metal that were exact replicas of the prints.
Mary Katrantzou’s first ready-to-wear collection debuted at London's fashion week in spring/summer 2009, with the support of the BFC. Despite a small collection of nine dresses, Katrantzou picked up 15 prestigious stockists including Browns and Colette.
Her thematic collections revolve around an icon of luxury, an object from art or design that a woman would not be able to wear if it were real. Mary has based the collections on perfume bottles, artisan blown glass and eighteenth century society paintings, while keeping the printed image central to her aesthetic. Her collections are complimented by a small line of jewelry that have the same play of illusion and effect as her clothing.
Her work has been featured in many publications including Vogue, Dazed & Confused, The New York Times, Wallpaper* and Grazia. She now boasts over 75 stockists ranging from Top Shop to Barney’s. During her fourth season, Mary was the recipient of the New Gen Award after presenting her first stand-alone show for spring/summer 2011. She was awarded the Swiss Textile prize for 2010 and was nominated for the British Fashion Award and for the Swarovski emerging talent prize. She has collaborated on a perfume with six scents, entitled “trompe l’oeil”.
I accidentally stumbled upon Mary Katrantzou. What an incredible designer! Her Spring 2012 fashions are pictured below.
Happy Monday Everyone!
I like the ones with the trailing fabric. But boy do those models look skeletal. Their collar bones look like those of famine victims. Just a shame that this is so common and healthy-sized women can't by on the runway.
ReplyDeleteRhonda...I'm glad you are feeling better and are back to posting.
ReplyDeleteMary is an amazing designer...beautful clothes...I love the colors and the way she combines them.
Thank you for your posts as you go through the Artists Way! I appreciate your sharing with all of us, for your openness, faith and especially your truthfulness! You probably never will know how many people you are helping just by being yourself.
Oh...and 'yourself' is very talented too!