Eastpak Artist Studio 2012

Zoe Vassilaki
Vegas
Stelios Koudounaris (see here for making of)
Konstantinos Rigos
Izima
Georgina Skalidi
Eva Nikolaidou
Dimosthenis Serketzis
Andrianos Aggelopoulos
Al Giga

To browse all creations for this year's Eastpak Artist Studio and read artists interviews visit http://artiststudio.eastpak.com/creations .

These one-of-a-kind bags go on sale in 53 days. All proceeds will go towards the non-profit organisation Designers Against Aids.

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It was quite a thrill being a contributor for Eastpak Artist Studio 2011. My bag must have been particularly loved in Italy as it was featured at Marie Claire and 'La Repubblica' among others. In the end, I think the winning bid came from someone in France though! Best of luck to all of this year's wonderful contributions.

Longchamps vs Mary Katrantzou in 10

Ten days to go before the Longchamps vs Mary Katrantzou s/s 12 collection is unveiled at Colette - Paris. On January 23rd, 'east meets west' on some of the brand's classics, making them the happiest, most colourful and exotic to date. Voilà:

You can watch a video of Mary Katrantzou talking about the concept and collaboration, here.

Georgina Skalidi recycles fashion

For the week between tomorrow, March 18th and Saturday, March 26th, accessories designer Georgina Skalidi is hosting a second-hand bazaar at her new space in Kolonaki. 'Let's Recycle Fashion!' is the brief shout out that came along with the announcement. Whether 'eco' translates to ecological or economical to you, this event applies to both.

Ippolito at Athens Xclusive Designers Week

(photo by Ordinary Style Pulse - see her 'Room Service' report, here)
Guess who else is participating at this season's AXDW. You know the bags, you love the bags and many of you are proud owners of one. On March 20th though you'll see Ippolito by Pavlina Papailiopoulou like never before, on the catwalk. Participating as one of the event's Newcomers. Show details are still a secret. Exciting!

Anna Prelevic for Georgina Skalidi Clutch Bags s/s 11

Lookbook SS2011. Loving it.
Model: Anna Prelevic
Photos: Nadia Papanikolaou
Styling: Charalampos Nikolaou

For clutch close-ups and store location see here.

What she wore

dear friend wearing - vintage dress from Berlin
myself wearing - black and grey jersey jumpsuit from Athens

Looking kinda 70s. Or maybe it's that wall.

Last night's close-ups

My close-ups maybe strange but these bags got soul.
Eastpak Artist Studio, team Greece 2011:
*attached to bag above: kids, this is a 'tape cassette'. Long before the mp3, this is what used to carry our music.
To have your own close encounters before the auction, visit the exhibition at Balux Cafe House Project - Glyfada till February 28th.

**Also see this post by Ordinary Style Pulse.

My bag is better than yours

So you have to go to this event/gala/ex-boyfriend's wedding and it's imperative that your handbag is a show-stopper/a show-off/ better than anything the bride owns. Pickle is, no way does your budget allow such an investment.

No worries, Starbags.gr (click here for English) has got you sorted. You can rent a bag like, let's say the above McQueen arm candy, for a fraction of its retail price and depending on how long you'd like to keep it for. Special occassion or not, this website gives you the opportunity to bring home some of your dream bags. You can rent them - which is a fantastic concept - but you can also buy them at yummy prices, slightly used or brand new. If you don't feel like buying but fancy selling one of your own, again, it is a good url to click.

Check them out, maybe your object of desire is closer than you think.

Eastpak Artist Studio - the bag

I have already told you I am participating at this year's Eastpak Artist Studio project for charity. As it all happened so fast, I haven't been able to show you the bag. Taking you through it now:
I was chosen for blogging about fashion so I thought it should be a blogger themed bag. What bloggers are notorious for among other things, is snapping photos. I made a velcro detachable camera pocket and placed it at calculated hight on the left arm of the backpack so one can shoot photos as you go.
The pocket secures with a bow to fit most pocket-camera sizes and has two strass elements attached to it, a small for turn on and a bigger for snap. (made a camera dummy out of a random magazine cut-out)
Then, most bloggers like knitting. I do too and since I both perform and talk about it every chance I get, it had to be part of my bag. Opened two button-holes at the top of the bag and stuck my bamboo needles in them. What you can't see is that on the inside, there are two tubes perfectly fitting them and stopping them at the right height.
Bottom left side of the bag there is another button-hole. This one is for the yarn as you don't want it twirling on dirty floors as you knit. Once you've started knitting of course, your project can be kept safely at the front pocket between sessions. Up to here, I'd made the perfect backpack for me. I even thought about not handing it in - but then I thought of the charity:) So on we go. With all the press fashion blogging has been receiving lately I thought there had to be a tongue-in-cheek cheesy element to it. Well I blastered 'blogger' with yarn all over the front top and crowned it with a strass. Doesn't get cheesier than that hun.

Also, we do get to keep lots of notes so I pinned all kinds of phrases (some hand-written by me) and even clothes and shoe images to create a blogger's 'edit drafts' feel.

'Knits between shows' is well, what this bag is meant for! (saying this, it's an exhibition piece, I don' expect to see it anywhere in public)
Among all other stuff I chose to pin, is an original 'Made in Greece' tag, something that will soon be a collectors item considering not much will be produced in Greece for long the way it goes.
So there you go, now you know all there is to know about my bag. That, and the fact that I made it with lots of love hoping to bring some of it to the people in need. Spent time with it as long as I could thus it's fully charged with Alecca-positive energy.
Last but not least, special thanks to Ino Mei for the amazing shoot of this bag at her studio and all the mental support.

*More on the fate of this bag, the exhibition party and all other participants, coming soon.

Georgina Skalidi's clutch, mine

Told you this one was coming. Quite confident you are all ignoring the snow boots and possibly a curtain I'm wearing because this new baby of mine is such a show stopper. Handmade, leather, limited number, with or without a leash, perfectly fitting the pelvis and all my essentials. Presenting you my new clutch by Georgina Skalidi.

Visiting Ma Chambre

Finally made it to Georgina Skalidi's pink basement and before too long, I wanted her 'chambre' to be mine. Imagine a handmade clutch nest literally underground. Hard to miss these shoes too. 'Lujuria' by fellow Spanish designer Maria Arellano who amongst other projects, has designed a private collection for Madonna.
Georgina Skalidi's ballerina's were special too, flat, simple and cute, matching those clutches of hers like they should. (That's right, took a useless picture of them inside their boxes - scroll up to first image or pay her a visit)
Ma Chambre is soon to relocate I was told, same neighbourhood though -so if you're reading this let's say in March '11- check before heading over.

As for what I left with, well, it was what I went for all along, against ongoing transport strikes, protests, lousy parking and all odds.
Deserves a post of its own.
Soon.