Relative | MO

Mary Katrantzou was born in athens in 1983, to an interior designer mother and a father who trained in textile design. She moved to america for a BA in architecture at the Rhode Island school of design, before transferring to central saint martins to complete her ba degree in textile design. During this time, Katrantzou worked on a freelance basis as a print designer for Bill Blass. Graduating from her BA in 2005, Katrantzou shifted her direction from textile design to womenswear with a focus on print. Working with Sophia Kokosalaki for two seasons in 2006, she also developed her portfolio for the Central Saint Martins MA fashion course, which she graduated from in 2008 with distinction.

Katrantzou opened the Central Saint Martins graduating show in 2008 and the collection mapped out her signature style. it was themed around Trompe L’oeil prints of oversized jewellery featured on jersey bonded dresses. These pieces created the illusion of wearing giant neckpieces that would be too heavy in reality. She also designed real jewellery made out of wood and metal that were exact replicas of the prints.

Mary Katrantzou’s first Ready-To-Wear collection debuted at London Fashion Week in Spring/Summer 2009, with the support of the BFC and the new gen scheme. Despite a small collection of nine dresses, Katrantzou picked up 15 prestigious stockists including Browns, Joyce and Colette. The designer achieved show status the following season, in Autumn/Winter 2009.

Her thematic collections revolve around an icon of luxury, an object from art or design that a woman would not be able to wear if it were real. Mary has based the collections on perfume bottles, artisan blown glass and eighteenth century society paintings, while keeping the printed image central to her aesthetic. This season she found inspiration in the world of interiors. Her collections are complimented by a capsule jewellery line with the same play of illusion and effect, highlighting her other talent, that of a jewellery designer.

Her work has featured in publications including Vogue, Dazed & Confused, The New York Times, Wallpaper* and Grazia. She now boasts over 75 stockists ranging from 10 Corso Como to Barney’s. For the fourth season Mary was a recipient of the New Gen award, presenting her first stand-alone show for Spring Summer 2011. She recently was awarded the Swiss Textile Prize 2010 and is nominated in this year’s British Fashion Awards for the Swarovski Emerging Talent prize. As well as producing a second collection for Topshop, this season she has collaborated on a perfume with Six Scents, entitled “Trompe L’oeil”.

www.marykatrantzou.com