Vassilis Emmanuel ZouliasUnique and Intertemporal

Editor: Iason Raissis

Media: Vassilis Zoulias

After 20 years as a brilliant fashion editor for magazines including Gynaika and EIKON, Vassilis Zoulias began to fulfil his long-life dream of designing clothing and accessories. In 2002, he opened his boutique, Vassilis Zoulias Old Athens in Athens, where he introduced luxury shoes, handbags, hats, and limited collections

Realizing his passion to dress women and staying true to his love for old time elegance- in 2007 he launched his first Ready-to-wear collection, paying homage to old-time glamour with the refined synchronous touch of his finely detailed excellent creations. By 2008, he showcased his first Haute Couture and Bridal Collection and has since headlined Greece’s fashion week for the past decade.

First of all, thank you for agreeing to talk with us. To begin with, I would like you to tell me a few words about Vasillis, who is he?

Thank you for having me. That is a great question! Vasillis is a person who constantly creates, dreams and achieve his goals

So, at 15 you begin working in fashion if I am not mistaken. How did you end up in the industry, did you always wanted to work in fashion?

When I graduated from junior high school and had the ability to work during the summer period, immediately I searched for a position in fashion. In 1979, I began working for Takis Parthenis. One day, he told me that he had arranged for a photoshoot with Katerina Terzopoulou which was the best stylist at the time, but she was unable to work that day, so he gave me the garments, sent me to the National Garden, where the model made her self-up and I did all the styling. But that was crazy for me at the time because I had never done something like this before and I loved it, I will never forget the feeling I had that day. Those images where printed in a magazine called ‘eikon’ an avant-garde magazine at the time owned by Aris Terzopoulos, without my name in it. Later I worked at Billy Bo, where for four years I was working backstage in his runway shows and as a stylist for editorials

And years later, you are a fashion editor working for known magazines. Am I right?

In 1984, I began working as a fashion editor and stylist at “Gynaika”, where I travelled to Paris twice a year to attend the Fashion Weeks, a remarkable experience for me because I had the chance to be present in very important shows that shaped today’s industry. Such as Naomi Campbell’s catwalks for Azzedine Alaia, Thierry Migler’s and Claude Montana’s spectacular runways, and the first shows of Jean Paul Gaultier. Although, I was just a young boy wearing special hats and headpieces who happened to walk around fashion week, where I was photographed and made the covers in London’s Sunday Times. Anyhow, the 80's were a very creative period of my life

Until you decide to leave the media and styling world and create your own line in 2002. What was it that pushed you towards becoming a designer?

It seems though that I always wanted to have my own line and ultimately a brand. When I was young I had taken a few fashion design classes, but I was always working behind the scenes. At some point, and with the help of God I was proposed to take over a brand called “Mouriadis” and as a project manager rebuild the brand and created a menswear line In the process I learned to make men’s shoes, shirts, suits During that time, I was constantly aspiring to create women’s shoes. After a while, the brand bankrupted and I took the store and created my first boutique in 2003, known as Vassilis Zoulias Old Athens.

You are believed to be one of the most intertemporal and elegant Greek designers. What makes your collections keep that intertemporal and at the same time unique line.

You pointed out two very nice words. Intertemporal and Unique. That is what I say, the point in all this is to change perennially while staying the same. When I was a stylist, I used to create hundreds of looks every month for almost 30 years, and from some point and on you could spot my work and know it was me behind it just because all the images shared the same bits and pieces of what I praised back then . I believe that every creator must have their own identity, and thus I believe I have managed to create one for myself which is distinguishable and known; and of course that is something that I am proud for

What would you like to say to are making their first steps int

To be brave. And to not listen t follow their hearts, and their d and have their own aspirations faithful to their vision and alwa began and chose this path in th “convicted” to succeeding, to b That is a reminder for young pe only possible outcome should b

What do you think about sustainability in fashion?

Where does Vasillis Zoulias stand in all of this?

I personally believe that I am one of the most sustainable designers, mostly because my clothes are intertemporal, and once you buy something you are going to keep it for some years in your closet. People that come to my boutique tell me how much they love, and they wear until today shoes and dresses I had designed for them years back.

In terms of materials, the collection I presented last year with Pericles Kondylatos, all my designs were made with straw, a material that hasn’t been used in the past by anyone in the fashion industry. We managed to create a full collection using that very natural material sewed on my lines. It was a very interesting experiment and a beautiful collection at the same time