You have extensive experience in curating spaces and hotels. Tell us about that—how exciting is it for you to discover creators, and how has this process shaped your aesthetic and the way you see things?
It’s the most exciting part for me. I’ll go somewhere, meet an artisan or a maker, and that becomes the starting point. I don’t usually begin with, “I want to design this.” I begin with a person. I see what they do, I get inspired, and then together we create something. It’s always collaborative.
That process has really shaped how I see things. My aesthetic is quite particular, and I like contrast. I’ll put a Klismos chair next to an artisanal lamp from Mexico, something very classical with something that might be considered folkloric, but presented in a contemporary way.
And a lot of that comes from how I was raised. Whenever we traveled, my mother would take me to a museum first. It teaches you how to see. A museum sets the tone for a place and it gives you context, proportion, history. And once you have that, you understand how to put things together. You develop a point of view.
What is your most recent achievement, how did it come about, and what exactly have you created?
The Store at the Ilisian is definitely the most ambitious project I’ve done to date. It’s a 325 square meter space in the center of the Conrad Athens, and the idea was to create something that felt completely singular. I feel it’s really a modern emporium.
This project has been in development for about four years with TEMES. From the beginning, there was a very clear direction: no big brands, nothing that felt generic or could exist anywhere else. We were completely aligned on that. It had to have a strong differentiating factor.
What I wanted to create was something that made people feel like they have discovered something. I didn’t need to compete with the shops downtown or on Voukouristeou, and I certainly didn’t want it to feel like duty free! And I think that’s what we’ve achieved.
We’re also expanding this summer with an Anthologist boutique at the new Eréma hotel opening in Milos, which continues that same thinking, but in a completely different landscape.
How important do you consider curation to be when occupying such a large and distinctive space as the iconic Conrad The Ilisian, the new talk of Athens?
It’s everything! In a space like that, you have to be quite radical, there’s no other way. And I think everything I do is a bit radical in that sense.
A lot of people design for comfort and familiarity. There is a certain solace in sameness, but I wasn’t raised that way and it’s not how I live my life. I think that’s partly why I was chosen, as TEMES knew that I was always going to do something very specific.
What was also important to me is that the Hilton has always belonged to Athenians. So the store needed to belong to them as well. It’s not just for hotel guests. With everything happening at The Ilisian: the gastronomy, House of NYNN, the energy of the building…it’s always been the epicenter of Athens social life, and I wanted to continue that in the retail. I wanted people to come for a coffee or a drink and then say, “Let’s go see what’s in the store.”
It needed to be a place people return to, not just visit once.
What collections are available, and who are they aimed at?
We had one mandate when creating the store: someone should be able to walk in and buy a pencil.
It sounds simple, but it’s actually very important. On the first day we opened, we had a pencilit’s three euros, from a beautiful Italian company, and that meant we got it right.
Of course, we have high-value pieces, and the price reflects that things that have traveled, that they are made by many hands, that take time. But it’s equally important that a child can come in and spend their allowance, or someone can pick up a magazine, or just something small and memorable. I love having those small discoveries.
It’s for everyone who passes through the space. That’s the idea.
Tell us about the exclusivities we are seeing in Greece for the very first time.
More than 95% of what we have is exclusive. That was very intentional.
We’ve worked with designers and makers across different countries to bring in pieces that you won’t find elsewhere in Greece, and in many cases, pieces that exist only in very small quantities. I also have brought in established brands that are not sold in Greece such as candles and skincare from Ex Voto Paris, The Lab Room from Spain, Karolin Van Loon and Africology. We have Fleur du Mal from New York, as Jennifer the creative director is a very good friend of mine. She is the pinnacle of sexy underpinnings. We have the premier launch of menswear brand Arc55, as well as an incredible menswear line from Nigeria. I have three lines of clothing from Senegal. We are also the only retailer of Alessandro Pirounis, who creates the most incredibly exquisite menswear, and Trunk, the menswear line sold alongside Monocle shops in London and Zurich.
We also have the first-ever Monocle shop-in-shop globally. While they do pop-ups, this is a permanent collaboration here in our space where we have the ability to do subscription sign-ups, we carry their publications, collaborative fragrances, and much of their product. Hauser & Wirth publications are also stocked here exclusively in Greece.
From Lebanon, we have Bokja, which is an incredible womens RTW line, as well as Adriana Degreas swimwear from Brazil. Jewelry we have a New York designer, ILIOS, directed by Taleen Setrakian.
There is also an evolving vintage designer collection from my own archives as well as a collaboration with Resee, the online platform. That is replenished every two weeks. The list goes on and on.
For art, which will continue to change, we are the exclusive gallery for Charles Howard, who was born in London in 1936 and died during covid in 2021. A painter, translator, collector and scholar of rebeticko music, the lived in Greece for more than 50 years.
I’m sure I’ve forgotten many others, and the exclusive list goes on and on!
Did the result live up to your expectations—was it what you had envisioned?
It has exceeded my expectations. Completely.
What’s been most interesting is how people behave in the space. They don’t just walk through, they stay. They spend time. They look. They ask questions. And they have already started to return. That’s exactly what I wanted.
In which aspects can one discover a sense of authentic Greece within the space you created?
We design and produce many of our Anthologist pieces in Greece: leather goods, ceramics, jewelry. That’s a big part of it.
We also work with people here who are incredibly important to me, like Ileana Makri, who has been both a mentor and a source of inspiration for many years.
And then there’s the Anthologist Lab, which is something new we’re developing. It’s about mentoring people who may not come from a traditional artisan background but want to enter the world of applied arts. For example, we’re working with an artist who now creates kaleidoscopes in stained glass, something he had never done before. There’s very little stained glass left in Greece, so in a way, we’re helping to bring that back.
We also have vintage textiles from Crete, from Metsovo, and from across the country. For ceramics, we carry Christina Moralis, Danae Ceramics.
But for me, “authentic Greece” isn’t fixed. It’s evolving. We also bring in pieces from countries like Egypt, which has a deep historical connection to Greece, and even contemporary collections, like the menswear line from Nigeria, to reflect the growing Nigerian population in the country. That’s important too. Greece today is layered, and the store reflects that.
It’s still very early, but what has the feedback been so far from the hotel and your store?
TEMES has been an incredible partner throughout this process, as is the entire hotel team. Truly.
The feedback has been sensational, from both the hotel and from people coming into the space. There’s a real sense that something new has arrived, and that’s very rewarding.
Everyone I speak to loves the transformation of the hotel. There’s a newness to it all but such a respect for the history.
What are your favorite spots in the new and beautiful Conrad The Ilisian?
I love a cozy corner in the Athenian Lounge, and in the evening, the bar at Byzantino is quite magical. There’s a feeling there.
Overall, the building really represents where Athens is going. The team has done an incredible job with the architecture and design. It feels like a new chapter for the city, and I’m really proud to be part of it.
