5/29/2015

Make My Friday - The photoshoot


Two days ago i had the most exciting time of the year! 
It was the day we made the photoshoot for the cocoandsilk.com summer collection. All the hard work of the previous months, finally came together!
I was so very lucky to work with an amazing photographer Mr Fotis Karapiperis and Studio Verve, he is super professional and a great person, so kind and helpful, he really made the whole process look like a piece of cake, helping us to stay cool and work with no stress, and boy i had a lots of it! Also the studio was an incredible place, i believe i could just live there for the next years, clear lines, minimal style, loft kind aesthetic and dimensions, it had everything i love in a work - home place! 
And, you can check the wonderful work of Mr Karapiperis here, here , and here .

For me it was kind of surreal to realize that i finally made it to come to an end, to see my entire collection be ready and wearable. It was rewarding, it was a feeling that gave me stength to move on and keep on working with the same passion and dedication. Maybe sometimes crazy dreams do come true!

Have a wonderful weekend!
Love, K.

P.s there is no photoshop or anything like that, the pics are taken with my mobile while working so forgive me if the analysis is not that good.





images by cocoandsilk

5/27/2015

Changing A Career - Part II


One of the biggest challenges i had (and still have) to deal with, was my own doubts. How could i really work on something completely new, if i was going to be good at it, how people were going to react, what my friends and family were going to say, how was i supposed to deal with my finance (my bank account was not that big), how could i prevent myself from making fatal mistakes and millions of thoughts that still keep me from having a light sleep! The answer is ... there is really no answer, i just have to push myself and move on, call to arms all of my courage, try to be as positive and optimistic as i can, talk about my deepest fears with my best friends and finally ... take the risk and do it!
When you build your own brand it is important to have a very clear vision of what exactly you are trying to say with your work, this helps you to take decisions and keeps the road clear. For example, I know i like things to be minimal and  simple and pure so i could not have chosen something ultra decorative for my packaging, instead i went for a more plain option. I knew what to ask for from my photographer and together we managed to find a common language.
Keeping things low-key helps me to be focused on what i want to do and to make my partners follow the vision, also it is important to be straight with people, you can not be good with everyone but you can be honest and this makes things much easier. I had a hard time in the very first months when i hired people to help me and this turned out to be a total disaster! Maybe I was not sure of how to handle this new situation , maybe they weren't the right people, and not everyone came with the best of intentions, so sometimes you have to take hard decisions and move on.

Now i am very close to the final result, the summer collection is ready, the photoshoot is for today ( yey!!! can you believe it?) , while i have already started on working  my winter collection (and I'm totally in love with it). It is a long road full of stress and hard work but there is nothing more beautiful than creating something from the very beginning and make it finally happen!

Still, no one can guaranty that everything will go fine and the risk is big, but at least i have managed to walk till the final step and this makes me feel stronger and a little more confident to myself.

Have a great day!
Love, K.


images via pinterest.com/cocoandsilk

5/25/2015

Changing A Career - Part I


When i decided to change career almost a year ago, i could not imagine the adventure i was getting into.
I always had my eye on fashion, as a child i used to watch my mother create her own clothes, as a teenager i was reading fashion magazines all the time and later when i had my own job i used to spend a major amount of my money on buying clothes. 
Of course, it is a different matter to watch fashion through the glossy magazines or the fancy boutiques from working and living the whole process as it is, and boy it is tough, fashion is tough! 

For me the easier part was the creative one, designing my own collection came out like something natural. I already had a clear vision of what i wanted to create and this was beautiful everyday clothing with a long lasting aesthetic, good quality fabric, classy with a female appeal.  Discovering a good fabric supplier was very important and finally i had to decide about the production. Somehow it seemed to be much easier to complete my small production outside Greece, but i was determined to work local, first i wanted to be in control of everything and secondly it was important for me to know all the people i was working with, and by 'know' i mean to build a relation based on confidence and common interest.

Working on something for the first time is quite frightening, i had a million things to think about, i traveled many kilometers visiting fabric exhibitions and spent endless hours into huge dusty spaces trying to choose my fabrics, worked many painful hours changing the patterns again and again and creating samples that i had to pay and throw away cause they weren't what i had been expected. Aside from the creative half there is also the business part that is equally important. I had to think all the technical details of the production and the new online shop. 
Again, it is very important to trust your graphic designer and most of all your web designer. I am so lucky to have one of my closest friends work for my site!

Stay tuned...have a great new week!
Love, K.



images via pinterest





5/22/2015

Make My Friday - Summer Planning And A Bit Of Shopping


This year i am so looking forward for our summer vacation. Maybe that's because i have been under heavy pressure (still i am), i have literally changed my whole routine and started all over again, which may sound very refreshing but it is also the source of an enormous amount of stress.
Aside from this, i love summer, i can't live without the sun and the sea and the beautiful beaches of the Greek islands. If it was up to me, i think i would choose to spend my summer days in a tiny and peaceful island of the Greek territory, just sit all day next to the beach and go for some sleep, yep that's all I'm looking for, OK and a WiFi connection....
Of course, there is no meaning for me to buy summer clothes - i have the whole cocoandsilk collection hanging in my closet, (soon it will be available on line), but i have chosen some really nice accessories that i would be very pleased if i could  afford - not so possible, starting a business from scratch cost me a lot of money - perhaps i can decide between one or two things and this won't kill me i guess, and my bank account neither.
What about your summer?  Is it too early for you to make plans or are you an early planner like me?

Have a wonderful weekend!
Love, K.

 items via massimodutti.com



items via zara.com



items via anthropologie.eu


main photo by cocoandsilk

5/20/2015

Jim Jarmusch


Hello, have a lovely day!

Yesterday after i had a pretty tough day i decided to choose a favorite movie and enjoy a couple of detoxing hours. And from all the films i have collected over the years i realized it is Jim Jarmusch's films that i like to watch again and again, cause every time i feel the same joy and excitement like the first time i watched them. Jarmusch is placed in his very own category as an artist, there is no way to confuse him with anyone else! His films are having such a remarkable aesthetic, different from every other film we have seen. His heroes are in fact anti heroes, people who live their own lives in their own unconventional universe. Actually, every film is unconventional, he can make you smile or lough the moment your eyes are getting wet. In his stories there is something that is always obvious, but never been told, something fragile and kind and outstanding but with no voice!

Another fact is that Jarmusch loves music, so he always creates amazing soundtracks with his films. His work is a true source of inspiration for me and he-himself one of the most talented and inspiring artists i have ever known.


images via .jim-jarmusch.net


5/18/2015

Love Made Of Concrete


Concrete is a decent material. It is easy to work with and it can be used outside or inside a building as well. I always believed  i could use concrete to make a house work with no additional furniture, use it to create a table, a bed or a couch, i love the simple, clean and minimal lines you can construct with it and the grey-white to blue-grey shades one can achieve, depending the mixture. Of course due to its gravity it is not advisable to do this if you live in an apartment, but you can still use it in small surfaces like a kitchen worktop or in the bathroom, to create a sleek and glossy finish.
The ideas are countless and personally I'm having a hard time to decide cause i like so many of them. Looks like, it may be the fashion field where i stand right now, but architecture and interiors are my all time lovers.

Have a wonderful new week!
Love, K.




images via .insideout.com.au  


5/15/2015

Make My Friday - Summer Gatherings


I can't tell you how happy i feel as the weather is becoming hotter and hotter. This time of year is definitely my favorite, it is warm during the day but evenings are super cool and perfect for gatherings with friends. 
This weekend i plan to do all the gardening i need so my balcony will be ready to welcome all the lovely people i share my life with.
What i most love about early summer nights is the fact that everything is so easy going! You pick a salad and a few drinks or a bottle of white wine and ta-ta! Dinner is ready to be served. And you know these first warm days are the sweetest, full of expectations for what is about to come. Even though we are still in May, it is not too early to start planning my first summer gathering.

I wish you a beautiful weekend.
Love, K.



images by cocoandsilk







5/13/2015

Hollywood Beauty


Located in West Hollywood this beautiful building has everything a person could ask. First of all an amazingly modern facade and when you look at it you know you have to put your hand deep into your bank account yes? Well, no! This building is La Brea project, a place which with a combination of private and public funding is offering low cost apartments to LGBT youth and people with disabilities and HIV-AIDS. It is the work of two architects, Patrick Tighe and John V. Mutlow and i believe the whole project is just amazing, inside and out! Watching efforts like this make me realize for one more time what architecture can be about, it is not only about the zillion dollar fancy villas around the world but also a human centered science.
I would like to see your opinion about it.

Enjoy your day
Love, K.



images and post inspiration via urbismagazine.com

5/11/2015

Creating The Right Work Environment


Hi there, how did you spend your weekend? Was it a cool one or not so restful?
For me it was pretty peaceful, considering the fact that i am so close to the final date of the cocoandsilk.com project, the clothes that are almost ready and the countless things i still have to arrange like photography, videos, shipping methods, packaging and all, yes, it was peaceful enough, thank God!
Aside from the summer line that is ready i have started to work on the winter 15/16 collection and this means i need all the inspiration nature can give, so what do i do when i have to solve a million technical details - not the most inspiring thing on earth -  and by the same time work on something that needs the biggest creativity? I'll tell you what i do, i try to create the most calm, peaceful and inspiring environment i can have. 
I started with a day spent throwing away all the unnecessary paper stuff from my office and everything i had kept but did not seem to use or had a specific idea how to use it, created an archive for my summer collection and collected all the sketches together, put all the fabrics in one place and after i released the space from all the craziness of the previous months and made it feel airy and fresh,....i bought flowers, lots of them!  A new mood board is also in development and this feels so nice, i had really got bored with the old one!
Believe me, it is like working in a new place, very uplifting! My only problem....same as always...time...no matter what trick i use, this fellow is too hard to handle, i am a pure disaster to this! Perhaps you can send me a hard schedule i can follow and see a result, i wish!

See you on Wednesday, have a wonderful new week!
Love, K.




images by cocoandsilk





5/08/2015

Make My Friday - Through The Eyes Of A Foreigner


Two days ago i gave myself a small brake from work. It wasn't really such a big deal, only a couple of hours just to clear my head from all the dirty stuff. 
Wandering around Athens with my photo-camera - i am not a good photographer and most probably i will never be one - is one of the most detoxing things i can do. Other people are doing yoga classes or meditation, my meditation is to walk with no obvious reason and take pictures, simple impulsive photos, nothing to count, just shoot.
So, my idea was to act like a tourist, a foreigner this time, i mean where would i go if i was visiting Athens for the first time? How Athens would be like in my own eyes? Not easy to know, i guess every person would have a different answer but that was a kind of game. Needless to say how intoxicating this was and how nice it felt to spend a few hours just with myself and a camera.

I wish you an amazing weekend!

Love, K.











photos by cocoandsilk

5/06/2015

Inspiration Is Everywhere....Well ....Almost


I guess we all are trying to be inspired in our everyday lives or to create things that may inspire other people and again ourselves. Searching or looking for inspiration to many of us comes really easy, some people are naturals while others are having a hard time to discover a source, a sparkle. Ever since i remember myself i was always amazed by people who had it so easy to create something unique from nothing, people who had the inspirational spirit inside them and could create just from scratch. After years of work it's easy to realize that inspiration really comes from everywhere, a person, a place, a picture, even a song, a movie, a smile, nature...everything! I guess we are all creative creatures, some of us just did not had the chance to work on it. Sometimes i like to watch very young children and how dramatically creative they are, just because their spirit - mind is free from limitations we as adults put to ourselves. And also because they still have a purity and trust their inner feelings. I mean, sometimes all we have to do is let our hand drive us to the right direction and not our mind,  this i heard for the first time from an amazing lady, Dietlind Wolf who explained to us: ''everytime i'm having a hard time to create or i don't know where to go exactly, i let my hands to do the work and guide me. Hands are not as quick as the mind is, thus i may go slower but i always find the correct road and when i look back i can see i was in the right path!'' .

Have a wonderful day
Love, K.

 source theurbnite.com

 source whitelivingetc


main photo via starwill.tumblr.com