Description
La Mode Grecque
Printemps – Ete 1939
Edition du Sous-Secretariat D’Etat
Pour La Presse et le Tourisme
Realisation de N. Engonopoulos
Cover: N. Engonopoulos
Designers: Yannis Evangelidis, Tsouchlou, Maria Stephanou (Suzanne), Heleni Costantopoulou, Evgenia Zacharopoulou and Helena Lekanda
Photos: I. Frantzis, M. Chroussaki and Nelly’s
Printed by Pyrsos in 1939
64 Pages
First Edition
Original Paper Binding
4vo, 29.5 cm x 20 cm
Nikos Engonopoulos (Greek: Νίκος Εγγονόπουλος; 1907 – 1985) was a Greek painter and poet. He is one of the most important members of the Generation of the ’30s, as well as a major representative of the surrealist movement in Greece. His work as a writer also includes critique and essays.
Yiannis Evangelidis was a Greek fashion designer. He was born in Cyprus and moved to Athens when he was 18. Before World War II broke out in 1939, Evangelidis was a couturier in Athens for 20 years. Among his clients was the future Queen of Greece, Frederica of Hanover, whom Evangelidis described in 1958 as his easiest, least demanding client. Frederica patronized Evangelidis between 1938 and 1945. His first New York show was held in January 1940, showing pleated gowns in blue and terracotta, with short decorative jackets and draped scarves directly referencing Greek folk costume. In 1951 Evangelidis had returned to New York, where he planned to stay and establish himself as a designer, not just of couture, but of ready-to-wear for the wholesale market. Alongside his twenty years’ experience in high-end fashion design, he had also worked for five years as a designer for a wholesaler in Capetown, California. In 1954 Evangelidis became a designer for the custom salon at Bonwit Teller, where his dresses, presented alongside imported Paris gowns, were noted for their use of tucks and pleats. In 1958, Evangelides owned a dress shop on East 57th Street, titled “Yanni”. He offered his first ready-to-wear collection in 1958.