Mary Katrantzou

Carine Roitfeld recently professed her love for London fashion and the brilliant young designers at work in the city, singling out the talent of Mary Katrantzou in particular: "She is one of my favorites, her clothes are incredible!" La Roitfeld's taste is on target as usual — Katrantzou just won the Swiss Textile Award for 2010, a prize valued at €100,000 and widely considered one of the most prestigious awards in the world of fashion. Past winners include Alexander Wang, Laura and Kate Mulleavy, Marios Schwab, and Raf Simons. Katrantzou was also nominated for this year's British Fashion Award.

Known informally as the "princess of prints," Katrantzou was born in Athens, Greece in 1983, and studied architecture at Rhode Island School of Design before transferring to Central Saint Martins where she attained her degrees in textile design. She gained valuable experience working for Sophia Kokosalaki and Bill Blass among other designers before creating her own label. When asked why she chose London, the designer replied, "It's a constant source of energy and inspiration to live and work in London. It has a reputation for great fashion, influential museums, and strong education. That all becomes part of your formation.”

Katrantzou's bold surrealist collection for Spring/Summer 2011 is titled "Ceci n'est pas une chambre" and draws upon inspiration from sources such as René Magritte, Helmut Newton, Architectural Digest, and Guy Bourdin in achieving an exquisite trompe l'œil effect. Carine plans to spotlight Katrantzou and her fantastic creations in an upcoming issue of Vogue Paris featuring ten of the best designers in London.

Mary Katrantzou photographs © 2010 Condé Nast. All Rights Reserved.

Comments

[oncet]

My goodness. Sincerely--these poor emaciated women look like famine survivors. Is the fashion industry "courting" women with this kind of body type?

[kellina]

Oncet, there is of course an ongoing battle in the fashion industry regarding weight and social mores. Some feel that emaciation is being forced on girls, others feel they are psychologically seduced into viewing it as normal. Cupcake wrote a hilarious post recently that addresses the phenomenon:

"Karl Lagerfeld does NOT want you to get laid"
http://fashion-tarts.blogspot.com/2010/11/karl-lagerfeld-does-not-want-you-to-get.html

[Milla]

What utterly bizarre designs... Never seen anything like this before. The second image reminds me of a lampshade my granny had.

You know I like skinny but I have to say that I find looking at these women, particularly their collarbone area, to be quite distressing.