Michalis Pantelidis is a Cypriot fashion textile designer whose innovative approach and passion for story-telling have put him on the radar of celebrities worldwide.
With a diverse background in textile design and a commitment to sustainability, Michalis has been pushing the boundaries of creativity. His work embodies a harmonious balance of art and photography, drawing inspiration from Cypriot heritage, culture, nature’s intricate patterns, and from the most unexpected places such as a trash recycling-zone in Strovolos.
Through his unique design philosophy, Michalis aims to not only create stunning textiles but also to foster a deeper connection between fashion and the environment. His collections reflect a dedication to responsible practices, emphasizing the use of recycled plastic and top-tier production methods.
His most recent work is being displayed 30 metres underwater off the coast of Larnaca, awaiting diver visitors until the end of the year.
In an interview with Voice Cyprus News, we delve into Michalis’s creative journey, inspirations, and his dedication to story-telling and sustainable fashion.
How did the idea of ‘Land of Decomposition’ come to be? And how did it turn into this success?
While working with Dutch Igloo, they told me ‘We want to see you creating something.’ I said okay and they put me on a deadline.
That month I came to Cyprus for the holidays, and I was also participating in an exhibition in Cyprus called Cyprus Queer Perspectives Art Exhibition at CVAR museum.
I was home for a month, and my father asked me one day to help him to throw away some trash, and we went to Strovolos trash recycling zone.
I was shocked, first, by the amount of trash that is there. I was also fascinated with the colour and shapes. It was like a mountain of colour. I thought, ‘oh my God, wow, this looks amazing.’
I wanted to make something with it, and I started taking photos. When I went back to Amsterdam, I started experimenting with the photos and creating digital collages. And I showed them to the Dutch Igloo, and they encouraged me to give a physical form to it.
At first, I experimented with art pieces for the wall. Then I thought ‘why not make a fashion accessory as a scarf?’ so I started making my first scarves.
The first two years, it was just an art project on the sides while I was working on other jobs. I moved back from Italy last year to show my second collection, Harvesting Memories, a collection created with the image of my father picking up pomegranates, which was supported by the Fashion Heritage Network Cyprus, which is a bicommunal organisation, that showcase designers from all over the island, focusing on Cypriot heritage and sustainability.
From that time, I started getting more attention and love in Cyprus and outside. An actress wore my kaftan at the Cannes Film Festival. Attention grew and I entered a business, which I’m very grateful for and very excited.
I wanted this so much. It began as an art project; I was not selling anything the first two years. After I came back to Cyprus, I started selling and it became a business and it’s growing. I’m getting more collaborations with hotels, and stores. I have my scarves now available in Italy, in Cyprus, in Greece, hopefully in other countries as well. I would love to have it in Turkey, Istanbul would be amazing.
What are the elements circling your mind for your collections?
I had a project with the doors for last year’s Cyprus Fashion Heritage Network event. It was very exciting. ‘Harvesting Memories’ collection was a separate project but in my head doors were also a part of Harvesting Memories. It was all part of the same thing. In my head I have trash, Cypriot heritage and ocean right now.
What can you tell us about your next collection?
It will be in a museum in Cyprus. It’s about celebrating Cypriot heritage and bringing young people close to the history of Cyprus. If you ask a young person about the museums in Cyprus, they’ll probably find it boring to go and visit. But if you show them the museum pieces in a modern and more fashionable way, in the form of a scarf, to be put on as a blouse and it’s featuring archives of the museum, I believe that will immediately bring them closer to building an interest into discovering Cypriot heritage.
How did the ocean and the environmental issues become an inspiration to you, leading up to the creation of ‘Ocean of Threads’ collection?
A movie I watched a few years ago, called Plastic Ocean, influenced my work. It shocked me that so much trash is in the ocean. And if we don’t act, it may be too late.
When I was in Italy, and alone in a small town because I did not speak Italian, my only getaway was riding my bicycle to go to the ocean. It was a 30-minute ride from where I was living, in Puglia, very south. So, I really connected with the ocean on a much deeper level than I was connected before. I’m born on an island. I love the ocean. I spent a lot of time by the ocean, I felt I belonged there.
I had the desire to explore more of the ocean and I travelled to London last year. I had an exhibition at the Embassy of Cyprus in London. It was a group exhibition with the Fashion Heritage Network Cyprus. After that, I went to Brighton, which is another city by the sea in the UK, to visit my friend. I met a diver who was taking beautiful photos of the sea in Mexico. I thought the photos were insane. I would love to do a collection inspired from the ocean.
And I came back to Cyprus, and I shared this idea with a few people. And they proposed why not showcase the seas of Cyprus. I started doing the research. I found out that there are so many good photographers in Cyprus that take photos of the underwater.
I decided to focus on Larnaca and I found support from the Larnaca Tourist Board and the Marine Research Department in Cyprus. So, we made this project happen. And it was amazing to see it realised.
I can see how all these elements; heritage, environment, and trash relate to one another. Are they all uniting under the same message?
Trash also has to do with finding a positive meaning out of something negative, it’s about learning to see the positive. Being gay and growing up in Cyprus was a bit hard because of the strains in society. I needed to learn to find the positive through the negatives.
When people are telling you to not show certain parts of yourself and hide things, and behave differently, they try to shape you into a box, you start hating yourself and you start seeing it as something negative.
I needed to work a lot with therapy to accept and love those parts of me. The project with the trash, when I look back, it makes so much sense to be able to see a mountain of trash and say, ‘oh my god it’s so beautiful I want to wear it.’
You need to train yourself to find the positive and the beauty in everything and I did that through the years, so everything is connected with life.
The Ocean of Threads exhibition is showcasing a rainbow, a decision I made for the celebration of LGBT community. I wanted to have a rainbow 30 metres underwater.
Who do you collaborate with for your social media?
The people I choose to collaborate with in terms of celebrity styling or celebrity dressing or people who are going to wear my scarves, are the people who resonate with the ethos of the brand.
Sophia Hadjipanteli is one of the most famous Cypriot models. She’s based in London. She’s the founder of the Unibrow Movement. She’s pushing boundaries in the beauty and fashion industries. People like Sophia, they resonate with what I represent as a brand.
We also receive support, for example the winner of Eurovision, Conchita posted photos posing with our scarves. I love Sertab Erener. I would love to dress her.
What I’m trying to do with the social media images with my campaigns, is to show many different styles all the season. I want to showcase that the scarf is a product that can be worn from a man to a woman, from 20 years old, to 80 years old, and can be adapted to each person’s personal style in all seasons of the year.
Can you tell me about the choice of materials you have used for these projects and the production?
The two types of products I have now, the scarves and the dresses, are both made from recycled plastic bottles or the collections. It’s two different types of fabric, one is more like chiffon, semi-transparent and light and the fabric of the dresses are satin, feeling more silky and softer on the body and is not transparent.
I produce them in the UK. Quality of the print, quality of the textile, quality of the stitching are all very important. These scarves are finished by hand which makes these items a high-end product.
What’s your take on the term ‘sustainable fashion’?
Obviously, fashion is the second most polluting industry in the world.
Understanding that whatever we do has an impact on the planet and the society would already be a step forward. Any design, any material we use has an impact with negatives and positives.
For example, people think that cotton is the golden fabric or the best. However, it takes so many chemical treatments to make it soft.
The dyes are so toxic, and polyester is made from petroleum. And recycled polyester, it’s still polyester, but recycled, which I think I like the idea of reusing something that otherwise would stay on the planet for another 500 years and pollute it even more.
A part of sustainability is to educate the consumers to buy less and choose well. Vivian Westwood famously said, ‘buy less, choose well, make it last.” Buy what you need, use it as well as you can and love it and take care of it.
And if it’s broken, repair it and use it again. I think we need to learn to love the pieces that we own instead of buying for the cheap price just to throw it away. That’s why I attach stories to all of my pieces and I’m working with conceptual collections because I want the people to connect with the pieces so they will take care of them, and they protect them and they’re going to love them.
Voice Cyprus News-2024
