In 2008, Katrantzou’s St. Martin’s graduation show led to her collection being nominated for Harrods and the L’Oreal Professional awards. This show was followed by her first prêt-à-porter collection shown at the London Fashion Week in the autumn of 2008. Katrantzou’s early work is characterised by the use of oversized jewellery and motifs on jersey dresses. This theme was to re-occur in future collections.
Since 2008 she has been producing various fashion shows featuring her own designs. Her collections have been sold worldwide to various fashion establishments and shops, including Harvey Nichols, Luisa Via Roma, Selfridges and Topshop. In November 2011 Katrantzou was awarded the British Fashion Award for Emerging Talent: women’s wear. The next year she was awarded the position of Young Designer of the Year at the Elle Style Awards.
In the autumn of 2014 Katrantzou presented the Jumbar G collection, which included hand embroidered jumpers. The embroidery was carried out by the London based embroidery firm, Hand & Lock. The Jumbar G collection included the 'Topaz Tik Tok' sweatshirt, and the 'Jumbar G Fur' sweatshirt. The latter is made of mink and trimmed with ribbed angora at the neck, cuffs and hem. It is further embellished with a hand embroidered emblem in the centre front of the garment. This garment was for sale in her digital shop (2015) for the sum of €16,850.
Other embroidered items included in her 2015 digital shop included the Iven T-shirts embroidered with a large, paisley motif (selling for c. €600 each). The designs for the spring/summer of 2016 are described by Katrantzou as being the fusion of the cosmic and chaos. It will include lace and prints, as well as embroidery inspired by Flammarion engravings of medieval cosmology. According to Katrantzou’s website, the “palette is solarised, contrasting brilliant, glowing colour with an undercurrent of sombre midnight shades.”
Digital sources:
- http://www.marykatrantzou.com/contact-us (retrieved 13 April 2016).
- https://www.marykatrantzou.com/shop/sweatshirts-and-t-shirts/jumbar-g-fur-sweater-embroidered-jumbar-g (retrieved 13 April 2016).
- http://www.thecreativeindustries.co.uk/industries/fashion/fashion-case-studies/fashion-case-mary-katrantzou.
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Katrantzou (retrieved 13 April 2016).
Digital source of illustration (retrieved 22 June 2016).
GVE