The summer Olympics is stirring up buzz for Athens but for a crop of Greek fashion players the games have already begun. Stylists, designers and photographers are pole-vaulting their talents from different cities across Europe and are helping to shape a Greek movement in fashion. Sophia Neophitou-Apostolou, 10 magazine’s Athenian-born editor-in-chief, is holding her own — commissioning moody editorials from top flight photographers — among the other intense fashion pubs such as Self Service and Another magazines. Cyprian Panos Yiapanis hard/soft styling trademark is increasingly sought after for Pop, VMan and I.D. magazine pages. On-the-rise fashion editor Georgia Alexandra Davis is burning up the pages of the international Vogues. Sophia Kokosalaki, arguably the highest profile fashion Greek, continues to gather strong reviews for fluid clothes tinged with Grecian draping and smoldering sex appeal. Angelos Frentzos’ collection of tailored jackets and flitty separates sell at Barneys NY, Harvey Nichols, and L’Eclaireur. Jewelry superstar and Hydra-based Elena Votsi, in addition to designing chunky gold and precious stone jewelry (recently featured in W Magazine) is also creating the Olympic medals. At Donna Karan, Peter Speliopoulos has served as creative director for seasons, shaping the slinky, draping designs in her line. As we reported last month, Munich-based Greek Kostas Murkudisis doing strong business in Germany. In Paris, Ioannis Guia has been showing his collection for three years, frequently popping up on ones-to-watch lists for tousled feminine clothes that are a bit jagged at the edges. Deux Hommes’ Dimitris Alexakis and Grigoris Triandaphyllou pared down luxury with little doses of the avant-garde have earned them a loyal following in Greece and outside. After stints at Christian Dior and Dupont, Andrea Papadopoulou returned to Thessaloniki to build a reputation on super fluid feminine “goddess” dresses. Almost famous Athenian photographer Thodoris Colovos cut his teeth at Greek L’Officiel and Harper’s Bazaar and is now showing his starkly lit images at James Hockney and Truman Brewery galleries in London, and setting his sights on conquering New York. Photographer Bill Georgoussis’ haunting images can be seen in Arena Homme Plus, Mixte, and Numero magazines while fellow Athenian Nikos Papadopoulos shoots W Magazine editorials. And eyes are on Hedi Slimane’s former longtime design assistant Nicolas Andreas Taralis, who showed his first collection in Paris in March. Tailoring, as you can imagine, dominated his all black fall ’04 collection. And as a nod to his ancestry, Taralis prints his name in Greek letters for his logo. Let’s hear it for the home team!

-Jason Campbell

Photos: Nikos Papadolous photo/Georgia Alexandra Davis’ styling
Thodoris Colovos
Nicolas Andreas Taralis fall ’04 collection