Sophia Kokosalaki (; 3 November 1972 – 13 October 2019) was a Greek fashion designer based in London.Tamsin Blanchard, 'Sophia Kokosalaki hooks up with Asos', ''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a British daily broadsheet conservative newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed in the United Kingdom and internationally. It was found ...

'', January 21, 201

/ref>'Little black book: Sophia Kokosalaki', in ''The Daily Telegraph'', October 23, 201

/ref>

Biography

Born in

Athens Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...

, of

Cretan Crete ( ; , Modern Greek, Modern: , Ancient Greek, Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the List of islands by area, 88th largest island in the world and the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, fifth la ...

origin, Kokosalaki studied Greek and English literature at the

University of Athens The National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (NKUA; , ''Ethnikó kai Kapodistriakó Panepistímio Athinón''), usually referred to simply as the University of Athens (UoA), is a public university in Athens, Greece, with various campuses alo ...

, before moving to London, where she graduated from the

Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design Central Saint Martins is a constituent college of the University of the Arts London, a public art university in London, England. The college offers full-time courses at foundation, undergraduate and postgraduate levels, and a variety of short ...

Career

Kokosalaki started her eponymous label in London in 1999. She received an ''

Elle Elle may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * Elle (magazine), ''Elle'' (magazine), a fashion publication ** Elle Style Awards * Elle (India), ''Elle'' (India), the Indian edition * Elle (film), ''Elle'' (film), a 2016 French film * ''Elle: ...

'' designer award and the Art Foundation award for fashion in 2002 and a new generation designer award in 2004, and had regular editorial from ''Vogue'', ''

Harper's Bazaar ''Harper's Bazaar'' (stylized as ''Harper's BAZAAR'') is an American monthly women's fashion magazine. Bazaar has been published in New York City since November 2, 1867, originally as a weekly publication entitled ''Harper's Bazar''."Corporat ...

'' and '' W'' magazines. In 2004, she was commissioned to design outfits for the opening and closing ceremonies at the

2004 Summer Olympic Games The 2004 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad (), and officially branded as Athens 2004 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 13 to 29 August 2004 in Athens, Greece. The Games saw 10,625 athletes ...

, which were staged in her home town of Athens. Over six thousand people were dressed by Kokosalaki for the

opening ceremony An opening ceremony, grand opening, or ribbon-cutting ceremony marks the official opening of a newly constructed location or the start of an event.

, most notably the singer

Björk Björk Guðmundsdóttir ( , ; born 21 November 1965), known mononymously as Björk, is an Icelandic singer, songwriter, composer, record producer, and actress. Noted for her distinct voice, three-octave vocal range, and eccentric public per ...

who performed "

Oceania Oceania ( , ) is a region, geographical region including Australasia, Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia. Outside of the English-speaking world, Oceania is generally considered a continent, while Mainland Australia is regarded as its co ...

" in an enormous ocean-inspired dress composed of many pleats and folds. Briefly, between 2006 and 2007, Kokosalaki was the first creative director of the relaunched Vionnet fashion house. Although Kokosalaki cites

Madeleine Vionnet Madeleine Vionnet (; June 22, 1876, Loiret, France – March 2, 1975) was a French fashion designer best known for being the "pioneer of the bias cut dress". Vionnet trained in London before returning to France to establish her first fashion hou ...

as one of her favourite historical couturiers, and her work was well-received, she was ultimately disappointed by the experience, and left after two collections to focus on her own label. Her style often featured classic Grecian draping combined with hand-crafted elements. While Kokosalaki was particularly known for draped, softly flowing dresses, her designs could also be architectural and heavily textured, and she worked in leather and tougher fabrics as well.

Personal life

Kokosalaki, who was married, with one daughter, died on 13 October 2019 after a brief illness with cancer.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kokosalaki, Sophia 1972 births 2019 deaths Businesspeople from Athens National and Kapodistrian University of Athens alumni Greek emigrants to the United Kingdom Place of death missing Alumni of Central Saint Martins Greek women fashion designers