Sophia Kokosalaki

Sophia Kokosalaki (born 1972) is a Greek fashion designer based in London.

Sophia Kokosalaki was born in Athens and brought up in Greece, where she studied literature at the University of Athens and graduated from the Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design in London in 1998.

Kokosalaki started her eponymous label in London in 1999. She received the Elle Designer award and Art Foundation Award for Fashion in 2002 and New Generation Designer award in 2004, and receives regular editorial from Vogue, Harper's Bazaar and W magazines.

In 2004 she was commissioned to design outfits for the opening and closing ceremonies at the 2004 Summer Olympic Games, which were staged in her home town of Athens. Over six thousand people were dressed by Kokosalaki for the opening ceremony, most notably the singer Björk who performed "Oceania" 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 as one of her favourite historical couturiers, and her work was well-received, she was ultimately disappointed in the experience, and left after two collections to focus on her own label.

Her trademark style often features classic Grecian draping combined with hand-crafted elements. While Kokosalaki is particularly known for draped, softly flowing dresses, her designs can also be architectural and heavily textured, and she works in leather and tougher fabrics as well.

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