Angelos Bratis (Q2651)
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Angelos Bratis is a fashion house from FMD.
| Language | Label | Description | Also known as |
|---|---|---|---|
| English | Angelos Bratis |
Angelos Bratis is a fashion house from FMD. |
Statements
GiveAngelos Bratisthe plainest piece of fabric and in no time it’ll be transformed into a draped wonder. He is an intuitive dressmaker: He’s adamant about not being called a “designer.” No sketches or mood boards for him—just thoughtful consideration of body shape. “Working on this collection was a sort of therapy for me,” said Bratis during a walk-through held in a light-filled, hypermodern space where models where standing in front of a maze of mirrors that reflected the surrounding forest of skyscrapers, part of a newly built Milanese architectural landscape.Bratis retreated to his native Greek village in the mountains near Athens to put together a lineup of beautiful dresses with the help of his mother. “She is a great seamstress—she taught me everything!” he said, pointing out liquid bias-cut polka-dot numbers cut from a single piece of silk, with decorative smock motifs hand-sewn with contrasting thread. “I was thinking about the myth of Ariadne; my Greek heritage comes up in the most unexpected ways through memories, images, dreams. I love geometry, arithmetic, the mathematics of dance, the logic game of music and rhythm.” But there is nothing conceptual about Bratis’s creative process: He’s a sensualist, and his dresses reveal love and respect for the female body. Their shapes had a free flow; they were cut in fluid, languid fabrics and built with sophisticated draping effects, their asymmetric hems skimming the body and giving way to a soft, undulating movement. Not surprisingly, Aegean blue was the color of choice, an homage to Bratis’s homeland that was also expressed in the melancholic melodies played by the harpist Vanja Contu, clad in one of Bratis’s elegant kaftans.
26 September 2015
After last season's debut chez Armani Teatro—a sort of imprimatur—Angelos Bratis wisely decided not to stage another show. His touch, after all, is way too subtle and his dresses way too complex and deceptively elementary to resist being visually swallowed by a stroll on the catwalk. Instead, Bratis opted for a cozy presentation inside the apartment of a well-known, well-to-do bon vivant.The context served its purpose: Bratis' creations fully revealed their magic when exposed among vintage prints, tons of books, and refined furniture. The clothes, made in wool and silk, constructed with a single seam, were as virtuoso as it can get, flowing and coiling around the body with natural ease. Bratis makes dresses and he only showed dresses, in a moody and precious color palette of dense autumnal colors. Leather accessories developed in collaboration with Justin Capp—harness-like halters and waistbands cut in a single sheet of leather—added a slight frisson of fetish, which created a nice off-balance tingle. The collection felt mature and accomplished.Bratis is a dressmaker, not an image-maker, which is quite an interesting position to occupy in contemporary fashion. Unfortunately, it showed in his lookbook images this season: Oozing brash '70s sass, they undermine the sensual delicacy and effortless elegance of the pieces, which is a pity.
28 February 2015
A Greek passport with an Italian address—this season Angelos Bratis joined the coterie of newcomers selected by Giorgio Armani to show in his Teatro Armani venue. Coming after Stella Jean and Au Jour Le Jour, both of whom were fairly flamboyant, Bratis set a different tone: His models seemed both fierce and solemn. The designer studied at the Netherlands' Fashion Institute Arnhem before moving to Italy and winning the first prize at the Who Is On Next contest in 2011. He seemed like a natural choice for Armani: The two share a minimalist sensibility and a taste for pared-down purity, not to mention a proclivity for muted, dusty colors. Comparisons stop there, however—Bratis is not interested in the interplay between the masculine and the feminine, nor is he dressing the working woman. Having been in the spotlight for a while, he focused his Spring collection on what he does best: dresses.Bratis is a technician. He doesn't work on themes, instead relying solely on the possibilities of ingenious draping and a bias cut to build his creations. Many of the dresses he showed for Spring were cut from a rectangle of fabric, molded around the body with a single seam. Rather than monotony, there was strength in the repetition: The show was an engaging progression of forms, one more complicated than the other. Cuts were accented by color blocks, and angular intarsia inspired by the paintings of the late Greek artist Yannis Moralis. There were a few clumsy numbers, but as a whole the collection gave off a sense of effortless ease, with a slight erotic charge.Surprisingly, the overwhelming vastness of the Teatro didn't clash with the subtlety of the show. "This theater is monumental," Bratis said backstage. "But my women are monumental, too. They need to be—wearing my little nothings requires a strong personality."
17 September 2014