Athens Fashion Week 2009

City of Athens Technopolis and Athens Fashion Week Productions are staging Fashion Week Athens for Autumn-Winter 2009/2010, March 26 to 29, at Technopolis in Gazi. Collections will be presented by prominent Greek designers and some promising newcomers. A variety of events and parties will take place during Fashion Week.

"The City of Athens could not miss out on supporting this opportunity for a ‘show' and, in this manner, assist Greek fashion and its creators to reinforce their identity and put their individual stamp on the international fashion world," Athens Mayor Nikitas Kaklamanis said

City of Athens Technopolis Chairman Fotios Ignatiou added that "the hosting of Fashion Week was of major significance for Technopolis, as we seek to further strengthen the institution and establish the event as a great celebration for the city of Athens."

Technology and Design Centre (ELKEDE) Director Theodoros Yiakoumakis said that "especially during this period, when news of economic developments is anything but optimistic, we must demonstrate our trust in Greek creativity in order for Greek fashion to survive."

The Greek designers taking part in Athens Fashion Week and who are also members of the Hellenic Fashion Designers Association include Makis Tselios, Kathy Heyndels, Filep Motwary-Maria Mastori, Konstantinos, Mi-Ro, Christoforos Kotentos, Vassilis Zoulias, Angelos Bratis, Dimitris Dassios, Parthenis and Yiorgos Eleftheriades.

On Sunday, March 29, three new designers will present their collections in a group show entitled Newcomers, namely Dimitris Zafiriou, Dimitris Petrou and De light (Evi Redziou and Daphne Iliaki). These designers received awards in the European "New Fashion Designers" Competition, a national contest which took place at Zappeion Hall in March 2008 as part of the Createurope.com programme.

A photography exhibition entitled Under Exposed, featuring the work of photographer Spyros Poros, will be held at Technopolis during Fashion Week Athens. The exhibition presents a collage of photographs from Cuba, with a particular focus on images from Cuba's National Ballet School and the Cuban Boxing Club. Poros melds together two entirely different subjects through his camera lens in a magical way. The exhibition was first presented in New York in February 2008 to great acclaim. The show's launch will be held on Friday, March 27, at 19:00.

The Technopolis Night Boutique, where visitors can purchase designer clothing and accessories at very low prices, will operate through the course of the event.

The event is being sponsored by the City of Athens and the Ministry of Development, in cooperation with the Technology and Design Centre (ELKEDE).

The programme is as follows:

Thursday 26/3

• 22:30 Opening Party

Friday 27/3

• 19:30 Launch of Spyros Poros photography exhibition
• 20:00 Makis Tselios
• 21:30 Kathy Heyndels

Saturday 28/3

• 16:30 Vassilis Zoulias
• 18:00 Konstantinos
• 18:30 Filep Motwary-Maria Mastori
• 21:00 Mi-Ro
• 22:30 Christoforos Kotentos

Sunday 29/3

• 16:30 Angelos Bratis
• 18:00 Yiorgos Eleftheriades
• 19:30 Parthenis
• 21:00 Dimitris Dassios
• 22:30 Newcomers: Dimitris Zafiriou, Dimitris Petrou, De light