"ODE COUTURE" A journey via FASHION BY MARIA DIAMANTI

Maria Diamadi "composes" with threads and fabrics an ' ode to tailoring ' ' and together with her students honor the great Greek international designers through a modern approach of their work, through which they once conquered the international scene. At the same time, he dares to wonder and answer to what extent and for how much this great genus of Greek creators influenced fashion internationally but also what position finally conquered the Greek fashion in the world.

' ' ODE COUTURE ' ' on 25 September at the Benaki Museum

''Whoever is born arrives at death through time's swift passage; and the sun leaves nothing alive.
What is sweet and what brings pain, man's thoughts and words, all disappear; and our ancient lineages are as shadows to the sun, smoke to the wind.
Like you we were men, happy and sad, as you are; but now we are, as you see, dust in the sun, deprived of life.
Everything arrives at death. Once our eyes were fully formed, shining in both sockets; now they are empty, horrid and black:
such is the work of time''
Michelangelo, c. 1520 

                                       With the historical phrase of Coco Chanel: "Only those who have no memory insist on their originality" and with the inspirational verses of Michelangelo about the work of time, Maria Diamadi announces the topic on which she studies and works For two years she and her team will present us in their forthcoming exhibition titled #ODE_COUTURE, on Wednesday 25th of September, at the Benaki Museum, Piraeus 138.
The exhibition consists of new creations of clothes inspired by the work of 4 iconic Greek designers who marked the history of fashion-and not only-of the 20th century and excelled abroad.

Creations of Jean Desses, George Stavropoulos, James Galanos, Yiannis Evangelides have been the area of research, analysis and re-creation of iconic dresses that have marked fashion in the last hundred years. The aim is to reintroduce to the public their work by teasing their original work and changing very small elements of their work to prove their its.

Always, in all areas, there are the troubled, the visionaries, the pioneers, who come forward and dare to risk, those for all and succeed-whether the others follow them, or not, great victories that go People steps away, paving the streets in their science or art.

In our case-in fashion-it is these few ' Greek creators who dared, have shown-some of them even managed to influence to date-fashion internationally. Greeks who many years before the Internet era and globalization made international careers and were recognized throughout the world.

We are asked to introduce you again, but they added an additional challenge to this adventure. We will dare to do more work. To harm from little to little the original original work and changing very small elements such as length, color, fabric or a technique in sewing or embroidery to prove how current their works can be done and how modern the Same when from 100 to 50 years ago were planning clothes for the then. Our ultimate goal is to create the viewer's sense of déjà vu.

 At the same time, in front of our eyes a century of creation unfolds, through true masterpieces sewn exactly in the way the original original clothes of their initiators, their biographies and their personal narratives were sewn. A project-document report that approaches with proper respect those masterpieces of the past and manages them in such a way that it is able to set and documented to answer the question of what position was finally conquered by the Greek Fashion on the international scene, which and for how long.

And if which is obvious to answer for how much is the workpiece here. Only for the then were these pioneers of creation designed their works? Did not just for the then?
Every time in an international modern or future catwalk we will see creations masterpieces should we remember them? Every time Dior House will embroider flowers in  dresses should we remember John Evangelides? Every time Miyake will work with folds and Gautier will be designing skirts with plaits should we remember Jean Desses ? And every time Mary Katrantzou will be working on her themed prints and Diane Von Furstenberg will be launching the printed wrap dresses, should we applaud Yannis Tseklenis?
As Coco Chanel said: "Only those who do not have memory insist on their originality."

The atelier of Maria Diamadi functioned for the first time in Kerameikos in 1930 as a classic small tailor house of the season
The owner, Maria Diamadi the senior , maker of clothes and hats, because of her great experience and her mood to convey her knowledge, establishes – alongside the activities of the atelier-the School of Tailor – sewing Maria Diamadi from Which, in the years it worked, graduated a very large number of students.
Maria Diamadi was born in Athens and grew up in the family atelier and sewing school. He studied fashion design and theatre costume and taught in fashion schools in Greece. In 2011 she created her own atelier on the same street of Kerameikos where her grandmother's atelier, Marathon Street, was housed. Since then she designs and sells clothes handmade, exclusively made for the person for whom they are intended, revived the "fashion lessons" that her grandmother delivering and studies and manufactures the "sculpture dresses".
He recently expanded the activities of the atelier by delivering on-line fashion lessons to Greeks abroad around the world through which her team grew and gained international character.
She, together with her team, wanting their knowledge to share them with the public and explain the different way they deal with the costume and the accessory since they came into contact with the creation and the history, they already organized two artistic Exhibitions the first in April 2014 entitled ' ' 180 minutes for 18 ideas ' ' on the costume as an art form with alternative raw materials and in June 2017 the ' ' FASHION REWIND ' ' themed costume as an art form in fashion and in the cinema of the past Decades, which were presented to the Athenian public with great success. Today we are announcing the #ODE_COUTURE the third in a series of group exhibition, in which fashion students from all over the world will participate, who will meet for this purpose in Athens.

The first part of the exhibition is studied by James Galanos, Yiannis Evangelides, Giannis Desses, Giorgos Stavropoulos. For the special case of Yiannis Tseklis who conquered the world market by working with spite from Greece and with Greek production The atelier announces that he will follow a separate big tribute to his work with reproduction of his original fabrics With the use of the original makages of his thematic printed which he very graciously bestowed.

Teaching-editing: Maria Diamadi

From the atelier of Maria Diamadi worked:

In research from London: Georgia Anagnostopoulou
In research from Greece: Konstantina Archonti
Photo: Argyris Vavougyios
Stage Construction: Vasilis Panayiotou
Computer technician: Konstantinos Megas

Students participate:
Georgia Anagnostopoulou, Stavroula Apostolakou, Konstantina Archonti, Violetta Verdemezi, Despina Zagoudi, Apostolia kaffait, Areti Kontogianni, Eleni Koumti, Maria Lekka, Alexandra Bakousi, Venetia Dabou, Anna Economou, Tina Orfanidou, Varvara Pappa , Victoria Pasis,, Anna Siachos, Evanthia Stefanopoulou.

Atelie Maria Diamandi: 31 Marathonos str. Kerameikos-Athens-10435-www.mariadiamandi.com