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Fashion designer<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n Giannis Tselenis<\/b> (Athens<\/a>, 6 November 1937 – 29 January 2020) was a Greek<\/a>, internationally renowned fashion designer,:176. He died at the age of 82 on Wednesday 29 January 2020.<\/p>\n Young Age<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n Giannis Tseklenis was born in \u0391thens<\/a>, at 6 November 1937. He is the son of Kostas Tseklenis from Pyrgos<\/a> and Melania Pastirmatzi with origins from Constantinople<\/a>. He grew up and completed his studies in Athens. Initially he studied at the College of Athens<\/a> and then he graduated from Moraitis School<\/a>.<\/p>\n Personal Life<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n In 1960 he married Aspa Pezmazoglou and in 1963 they had a son, Konstantinos Tseklenis, a conceptual artist and filmmaker. They divorced in 1965 and in 1976 he married his second wife, Efi Mela<\/a>, former model and Miss Hellas<\/a> at 1954, with whom they lived together until his death.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n In summary<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n <\/span>Created by Yannis Tseklenis from the collection “Insects”, 1972. Collection \u03a0\u039b\u0399<\/a>.<\/p>\n Yannis Tseklenis was considered the leading Greek fashion designer of the second half of the 20th century, who introduced Greek fashion to the modern international world. His creations from 1965 to 1991 were sold worldwide by leading stores in more than 30 countries:153<\/p>\n During the period 1960-1980, he drew the themes for his textile designs from the creations of Greek and world culture. His source of inspiration was the ancient Greek vases<\/a>, the Byzantine manuscripts, the Greek traditional woodcarvings and paintings, also the African, the Chinese, the Indonesian, the Russian, the Spanish works of art, the heraldic symbols<\/a>, the insects, the cartoons, the Persian carpets, the tapestries \u201cThe Lady and the Unicorn<\/a>\u201d and finally the tables of impressionist painters<\/a>, of Dominikos Theotokopoulos (El Greco)<\/a>:159-160, of Henri Rousseau<\/a> and of Yannis Gaitis<\/a>.:160-161<\/p>\n In the late 1970s and 1980s, he signed with the TSEKLENIS brand for work uniforms, socks, suitcases, as well as a range of household products such as linen, interior decoration and furniture fabrics, wall and floor tiles, etc. He also designed the interiors of cars, aircraft and hotels. His work was praised worldwide by leading fashion editors of the time, such as Bernadine Morris<\/a> (New York Times<\/i><\/a>), Sally Kirkland<\/a> (Life Magazine<\/i><\/a>), Eugenia Sheppard<\/a> (International Herald Tribune<\/i><\/a>, Los Angeles Times<\/i><\/a>) , and many others<\/p>\n In recent years he has been exclusively involved in the design (interior\/exterior) and renovation of hotels, luxury residences and public transport.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n In detail<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n Decades 1950 and 1960<\/span><\/p>\n At the age of 15 he started working in the family’s textile trading business, where he gained valuable experience, while at the same time practicing his painting and drawing skills.:153-154<\/p>\n In 1961, at the age of 24, he founded his own advertising company, Spectra Advertising, and undertook the advertising campaigns of large multinational and Greek companies, such as Metaxa<\/a>, General Motors<\/a> and Aegean Mills<\/a>.<\/p>\n In 1962 and 1964 respectively, Yannis Tseklenis was involved in the design and decoration of the interiors for the official celebrations of the weddings of Princess Sophia of Greece<\/a> with Juan Carlos of Spain<\/a> and Anne-Marie of Denmark<\/a> with the king at that time Constantine II of Greece<\/a>.<\/p>\n <\/span>Aristotle Onassis<\/a> was the subject of the collection “Cartoons” by Yannis Tseklenis, 1972. (Collection \u03a0\u039b\u0399<\/a>)<\/p>\n In 1963, he had an exhibition of his paintings and drawings at the “Architecture” art space in Athens.<\/p>\n In 1965, at the age of 28, he took over the management of the family textile business and later, in the same year, he collaborated with the Greek fashion designer Dimi Kritsa<\/a>, designing the fabrics for his collection. The presentation of the collection was a huge success both in Athens and in New York. All their creations, along with 5.000 meters of fabric, were purchased from Elizabeth Arden<\/a>.:639<\/p>\n In 1966, he licensed his collections to the American company Puritan Fashions Corporation. Bernadine Morris wrote in the New York Times that “… many of Yannis Tseklenis’s clothes stood out because of their designs with references to ancient sources, such as a Minoan octopus and a Corinthian vase… “. It was this that prompted him to create his own fashion clothing business. By 1967, he already had a chain of shops selling his creations (Boutique TSEKLENIS) in Greece and by 1968 a small clothing manufacturing business in Athens. This year he licensed Berketex in the UK, while the American company Celanese hired him to design knitted fabrics for 10 manufacturers in Germany. In 1969, he licensed his creations to David Crystal Inc in the USA. That year, he was the first Greek fashion designer to create a collection of menswear in Greece, mainly to be sold in his boutiques. At that time he also licensed the production of his knitted designs to Berkshire Hellas.<\/p>\n Decades 1970 and 1980<\/span><\/p>\n During the 1970s, Yannis Tseklenis contributed passionately to the organization of fashion shows in Athens. This fact promoted Greek designers in the international press with great success. In 1970, he licensed the production of women’s dresses to Frank Usher (UK) and Madison SA (Greece), while in 1971, he opened Boutique TSEKLENIS in Beirut<\/a>, Kuwait<\/a> and Riand<\/a>, as well as showrooms in Osaka<\/a> under Misaki Sojhi. Later the same year, he was assigned by Aristotle Onassis<\/a> to design the uniforms for the crews of the Olympic Airways<\/a>.<\/p>\n 1977 was a turning point for Yannis Tsecklenis, both professionally and personally. Diagnosed with an aggressive form of melanoma, he was admitted to Memorial Hospital in New York, where doctors were forced to amputate his left arm to prevent the spread of the disease. Although this traumatic event changed his life, he decided to continue his life as normal and moved from Athens to New York, along with all his activities. There he worked with the International Management Group, which in the process would represent him internationally in the licensing of his collections and children’s sportswear:53<\/p>\n A year later, in 1979, the Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York)<\/a>, acquired the films that he himself had shot to promote his collections, with a view to registering them in his film archive.:162<\/p>\n <\/span>Set from the collection “Insects” by Yannis Tseklenis, 1972 (Collection \u03a0\u039b\u0399<\/a>)<\/p>\n At the same time he started designing his first collection of furnishing fabrics, which he promoted in Athens, Paris and London. By 1973, Yannis Tseklenis had permanent showrooms for his collections in London and New York, and supplied most of the leading fashion stores in the UK and USA at the time. Until 1976 there were 9 Boutique TSEKLENIS in Greece, operating in Athens, Mykonos, Hydra and Crete. There were similar ones on cruise ships and at the Caravel Hotel in Athens.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, the absence of Tseklenis from Greece caused a socio-economic problem for the country. So the government offered him favorable terms to return his activities to Greece, which he did. Thus created in collaboration with the department store \u039c\u0399\u039d\u0399\u039f\u039d<\/a>, Tseklenis International Fashion Enterprises, based in Athens. Its object was the manufacture of women’s, men’s, sportswear, accessories and linen. 7 boutiques were opened in MINION, with the intention of spreading throughout the country through franchise stores. Unfortunately, these plans were abandoned the following year, as the Group’s flagship store, MINION, on the corner of 28th October (Patision) and Doroi streets, was destroyed by arson, which the authorities attributed to an act of terrorism. :53 (At dawn on 19 December 1980, two simultaneous fires destroyed two of Athens’ most historic department stores, Minion and Katrantzos).<\/p>\n The Greek Ministry of Industry entrusted him to organize and run for 2 years the Hellenic Design Centre, an organization that aimed to encourage talented Greek designers to create, so that their designs could be promoted to the country’s manufacturers and go into production. However, according to Tsecklenis, the relationship between design and industry in Greece was and still is an anachronistic one, due to ignorance about promoting entrepreneurship.:176<\/p>\n Also in 1979, the car company FIAT<\/a> commissioned him to design the interiors and renovation of its passenger car, Fiat 126<\/a>.<\/p>\n In 1980, Yannis Tseklenis opened a new showroom on 5th Avenue in New York City. The decade found him expanding his business even further and entering into activities such as interior design, linens, housewares (ceramics, tableware, candlesticks, etc.) and art direction of films.<\/p>\n In 1980, he also designed the clothes of Anna Vissi and the band Epikouri for their performance at the 25th Eurovision Song Contest in The Hague, The Netherlands, with the song Auto-Stop.<\/p>\n From 1991<\/a>, Yannis Tseklenis is exclusively active in the field of interior and environmental design.<\/p>\n In 1997, he donated to the Peloponnesian Folklore Foundation,<\/a> the set of his original designs and garments in his possession.<\/p>\n The following year, 1998, he was commissioned to design the interior and exterior surfaces of Athens’ public transport (buses, trolleybuses) and in 1999 he designed the trains for the new, for that time, suburban railway of the Hellenic Railway Organization and then all the new trains of the Organization.:60-62<\/p>\n Since 2000, he has been responsible for the interior design of many luxury hotels, resorts and private residences throughout Greece. Examples of his work include Vedema (one of the first luxury art boutique hotels in Greece) Zannos Melathron, Kastelli Resort (Santorini), La Maltese Restaurant (Santorini), Danai Beach Resort & Villas and several luxury private villas in the suburbs of Athens, Santorini, Mykonos and Tinos (Kelia, a settlement with holiday homes).<\/p>\n Awards<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n The artistic contribution of Yannis Tseklenis to Greece has been recognized and he has been awarded various distinctions. He has received the Silver Cross of the Order of the Phoenix<\/a>, the Gold Medal of Fashion by the Hellenic Fashion Institute, the Daughter of Cyclades by the Hellenic Fashion Centre and the Diolkos Award of the Hellenic Academy of Marketing.<\/p>\n Exhibitions<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n “Yannis Tseklenis: A Greek Fashion Designer”, 1999, Thiseion Theatre<\/a>, \u0391thens.<\/p>\n “6 ‘Universal’ Greek Fashion Designers – 4th Greek Fashion Week”, 2006, Zappeion Hall<\/a>, Athens.<\/p>\n “6 ‘Universal’ Greek Fashion Designers” 2006, Leventio Municipal Museum<\/a>, Nicosia Cyprus.<\/p>\n “Dress yourself. For a Museum of Clothing Culture”, 2010, Benaki Museum<\/a> (Building on Pireos Street), Athens.<\/p>\nBiography<\/span><\/h3>\n
Professional Careers<\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\n