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IFIGENEIA LAZAROPOULOU 

 I have always enjoyed dreaming and smiling thinking about all those moments next to all the people I like and especially my family, that made my heart warm and my smile a long one.

Many of these dreams and memories are wrapped in blue colours as I watch myself – as a child – running by the sea, laughing, making castles on the beach and fishing with my father.
I can sometimes swear that the colours of these memories and dreams are so vivid that I can describe me with great accuracy, a warm yellow, a transparent blue with grey patches, a fruity orange and the mauve tones of the sky when the sun starts to set.
Colours are still my great passion for colours give every shape a unique character and it was this challenge – of capturing the essence of colour – that made me pursue a career in design.  

In 1999 I decided to move to France and I felt blessed to be accepted at the ESMOD International Fashion Design and Business school in Lyon.

It is amazing how can one’s life transform through education.
I learnt how to observe the way different fabrics embrace the body and practiced a lot! This practice was actually so useful especially in improving pattern making skills and haute couture sewing.
Visiting museums and reading about the history of fashion, gave me a great insight into how clothes carried and continue to do so, aspirations and status.
In the 4rth year, I was competing for a place in the swimwear section and my heart just jumped at joy when I was amongst the two students chosen out of 40!
Such a privilege and responsibility!

When the time of my graduation arrived, I decided to start my own business, daring to swim in the deep waters of business which I viewed as liberating through designing and making my own story and clothes.

In May 2003 I opened my boutique ‘Homo e Citta’ with custom made swimwear collections in Athens and I really dived into the turbulent waters of business right through the 2008 crisis, growing as a business owner, a salesperson and a designer.
The close relationship I developed with my clients as their designer, allowed me to understand more the various concerns women have about their bodies, image and beauty and helped me create better patterns as well as enrich the choice of accessories to be used with swimwear.

After 19 years, with the digital era beyond my doorstep and having solidified what really defines me as a designer, I decided to bring in a new chapter in my career, launching my swimwear label IPHIS. 
IPHIS is about being the woman you want to be and look like on the beach, it is about the colour that is distinctive, memorable and flattering because it flows on a design that embraces and glorifies the female body.
Such a target is not easy to achieve neither is the target of keeping oneself motivated and creative. Fortunately, I have my loyal customers, their stories, passion and expectations that make me spend hours to design a new swimwear and sew those several samples before I finalise the pattern and the colours to be used.
A big thank you to all of my customers, patterns and friends for their support,
encouragement and motivation!

Being a designer with such a big market competition on a global scale is not easy, but what is easy in this life?

Choosing the IPHIS swimwear, makes me continue to live in creativity and individuality!

 

 

                                 Ifigeneia IPHIS designer