Ancient Kallos : Aegean Light
Ancient Kallos draws its creative inspiration from ancient Greek beauty and cultural heritage – its very name deriving from the ancient Greek word for beauty; ‘Kallos’. The sun in the form of its ancient Greek symbol features in the logo ΚΑΛΛʘS, in the letter O, as a representative of the spirit, while the dot in the middle symbolizes the original spark, which mainly springs from willpower.
| interview by Anna Baniora | MA, Fashion Business Management |
In 2014, the resort wear brand Ancient Kallos was created as a result of the cooperation between Lamprini and Stella Stavrou, merging together their fashion and architectural backgrounds. The brand arose by the traveler’s wish to have a memento from summer in Greece, hence the creation of the resort wear.
What elements of Greek Architecture are the inspirational force for your collections?
Our country is a limitless area of inspiration and we are intrigued by the aura and the uniqueness of the islands, particularly Cycladic architecture with its sleek and bright characteristics. The contemporary rendering of Cycladic minimal forms captures the ‘breath of an eternal faith’ in a unique and ethereal way, simply and stunningly.
The white washed cube houses reflect the harsh summer sun. Shadows on white, colored light; choices in the frame create a balance between light and shadow such that simple architectural forms converse with the sea, with the sky, with the air.
Inspired by the variations in the hues of light and the architecture of the Aegean islands, the SS’16 collection is named Aegean Light.
Describe the special features of the Aegean Light collection SS2016.
Remaining loyal to our stylistic forms and aesthetics, for the Aegean Light collection we have exclusively created a color palette for our textiles to depict the hues of the Greek island complex.
The ‘Aegean Blue’ used on our textiles is seen on the window and door frames of Cycladic houses and the picturesque domes of the churches. The ‘Warm Ochre’ captures the reflection of the Santorini sunset onto the white forms. The ‘Aqua’ transparent cyan represents the waters of Voutoumi beach on the island of Paxos.
You also tend to use traditional Greek elements in your collections. What is the source of your inspiration?
The trademark of Ancient Kallos is a specially handcrafted motif, traditionally named ‘Karsaniko’, which represents the mountainous village of Karyes, in Lefkada – the Ionian island that is connected with our summer vacation memories. The traditional embroidery ‘Karsaniko’ adorns the tunics and shirts of our collections for the last 2 years. This year a family owned cross – stitch embroidery has been the inspiration for our collection; with every garment having more than 100.000 stiches.
Talented local artisans from Macedonia are engaged in creating the embroideries and handmade tassels on the Ancient Kallos garments. The fabrics used are made of natural fibers, mainly cotton, lace and silk. All products have been designed and manufactured exclusively in Greece.
Describe the stylistic identity of the contemporary woman in ‘Ancient Kallos’.
The stylistic identity of our clothes is a combination of the minimal ancient flowing form of clothing that Athenian women wore with traditional elements. Ancient Kallos addresses to the contemporary woman that values the experiences from traveling around the world, enjoys her holidays and seeks to acquire an authentic local piece of clothing that will imbue memories from Greece.
Based in Thessaloniki the Ancient Kallos brand, debuted its first collection at hotel boutiques on Greek islands and up to now is available at selected retailers worldwide.
