AthensWears

Panemistimiou st, Aliki

Aliki works as a graphic designer and owns her own creative office, called Meetoo. Loves fashion and likes expressing her creativity through clothes. She shops without a plan and goes for items that attract her attention. She loves to wear out her clothes she owns, like the ballerina shoes she bought from Rebet while visiting Paris.

She learns about fashion from magazines, the internet and from what she sees in other people. She points out Balmain as this season’s favorite fashion designer and adds that she found a T-shirt in Zara that reminded her of his collection. She commented that Zara and the other “affordable” chain-stores offer everybody the opportunity to own a piece of high design since they create quite good imitations of designer clothes at low prices, remarking that this is a result of the industrial revolution in fashion, but that the bad side of this is that you may end up wearing a kind of uniform.

She also comments that clothing reveals one’s personality, aesthetics; for example a handsome man in army uniform could look ugly if he dresses with bad taste in everyday life.

Place: near the Academy of Athens and the University (Law school)


Voukourestiou st, Maria and Panagiotis

I moved on to Kolonaki, 10 minutes walk from Sintagma, and headed to Voukourestiou st, the high class shopping area. Gucci, Prada, Hermes, top-end jewelery shops and the Attica department store are nearby. I stopped to talk with and photograph Maria and Panagiotis, a married couple.

Maria works as head of sales in a private company. She enjoys quality clothing and for this reason prefers shopping from famous fashion labels like Prada, Dolce & Gabbana, Armani and feels comfortable in Pinko clothes, Miss Sixty and Seven Jeans; she also pays regular visits to Zara and H&M. She doesn’t enjoy shopping because she gets confused, unable to choose easily, so when she shops it’s usually a spontaneous process. She spends money but within reason and as she said tries to buy clothes and accessories that are not fashion statements but have a timeless quality, so that she can wear them for many years. She has developed a personal style that comes from combinations of clothing she has in her wardrobe and depending on the event. She is not influenced by trends. She likes being feminine; she likes bags and eccentric shoes, always with high heels. In the photo she wears Marc Jacobs shoes,Dolce & Gabbana jeans and holds a Prada bag. She likes jewelry, especially necklaces, bracelets and rings. Earrings don’t do it for her.

Panos runs his own business. He likes fashion and shopping, makes quick decisions and always knows what he wants. He enjoys wearing brand-name clothes, and considers Prada designs quite close to his personal taste.