April 2024 - No. 11
Faidra’s B.I.G. Moves
We met with designer Faidra Tzedakis in her new studio in Astoria to talk about her clothing brand Danae and her latest circular-fashion collaboration with Hellenic Aesthetic.
Faidra Tzedakis is a fashion designer from Rhodes, Greece. She immigrated to New York City in 2015 to pursue a clothing design degree from The Fashion Institute of Technology. She has since worked at small, but influential, fashion houses such as Sandy Liang and R13 and started her own clothing line called Danae, which is named after her mother.
Danae exudes Faidra’s personal taste— the clothes are feminine, sensual, dreamy, and have an edge. Faidra’s Hellenic roots are embedded into Danae’s DNA and they are in constant conversation with elements of her life here in New York City.
Faidra recently moved her office to Astoria and is finding new ways to connect more with her heritage (Astoria is traditionally known as a “little Greece” in New York City). She recently collaborated with Marianthi Vlachos, founder of Hellenic Aesthetic, on a new project that marries tradition, family, and circular design. This “Dressing the Table” project launched at the Hellenic Aesthetic store in Astoria this past weekend.
Designer Faidra Tzedakis in her office in Astoria for Kalo Mina.
Danae is named after your mother. How does your mother influence you and your creativity?
I have always been extremely close to my mother. It used to be just the two of us until I was 10 years old.
Since I was young, I gravitated towards the arts. I would always ask my mother to sign me up for painting, sculpting, piano, or ballet lessons because I wanted to keep learning and creating. Even though my mother was a single parent at the time, she would always ensure that I was exposed to whatever artistic pursuit I was interested in at the time. It was her encouragement and dedication that ultimately allowed me to reach my dreams.
The older I become, the more I realize how graceful my mother has always been– both in her womanhood and motherhood journeys. Everyone I’ve ever known has naturally gravitated towards her. She is magical.
Danae is an homage to my mother who is my brightest light. She is my muse and my dream girl. I want to dress women like her, be like her, and honor her. She is someone who doesn’t take “no” for an answer and exudes an effortless zest for life. There’s something to be said about women who raise their daughters with the type of resilience that she did, quite literally against all odds. I still wake up every day and want to be her when I grow up.
How did your background in fashion set you up to start your own clothing company?
I worked in the industry for about five years before I decided to focus on Danae. When I was looking for internships, I consciously avoided big corporations. I wanted to work for designers who had a clear vision and were bringing their dream world to life everyday.
My first internship while I was still in school was with Sandy Liang. I eventually became a full-time employee and worked there for three years. I was lucky to have this as my first peek into the fashion world because it set me up for starting my own company. After working at Sandy Liang, I thought to myself: “Okay, I’ve done design, helped with development and production, shipped orders, experienced shows, opened stores, attended Paris market weeks, led collaborations, and the list goes on. I now understand how this works, kind of, and I want to do it myself.”
My business model is very close to how this first job operated. I can’t imagine starting a business before these experiences and before meeting colleagues in the industry who are now my friends and mentors.
How would you define Danae?
I prefer to not define Danae. She goes where I go and grows with me, if that makes sense.
Who is the “Danae” girl?
The “Danae” girl is a citizen of the world. She could be an immigrant because she doesn’t settle easily. She’s nostalgic for her Ithaca, but knows better than to go back. She is both self aware and politically aware. She is kind, giving, and sensual. She values herself and might even have pictures of her younger self around her. She admires other women and keeps little trinkets that remind her of each woman who has raised her and built her up into who she is today. She has a deep and constant passion and intensity. She can’t live without the sea and underwater is where she can think best. She’s curious, she reads, she probably knows more than one language. She is every woman I’ve ever met. Lastly, in relation to the brutality against women around the world, she dreams of being allowed to be free.
Can you tell us more about the philanthropic efforts that are embedded into Danae?
I’m fully aware that being a designer isn’t necessarily an occupation that directly helps people in any general sense. My goal to integrate philanthropy into Danae comes from this awareness and also from my upbringing in Rhodes, Greece. I was living in Greece during the economic crisis and witnessed the hardships and instability that were so prevalent in the country at the time. Greece still has persistent economic problems and there are a number of other issues such as the slow recovery from the pandemic, increasing wildfires, the system’s lack of protection against women, and the influx of refugees. Now that I live in New York, I experience these issues in my home country from afar and I want to find ways to give back. Supporting my country through Danae is one of the ways that makes sense to me.
While Danae is a New York City brand, it has deep Hellenic roots. I was trained as a Red Cross member in Rhodes when I was a teenager, and it was the first time I experienced what it was like to give back to my community. Danae is my resource now. I try to donate a portion of proceeds to organizations that are meaningful to me.
You immigrated to New York from Rhodes to attend The Fashion Institute of Technology in 2015. Can you tell us if and how your designs infuse a sense of both Greece and New York?
I like to think that my work is not defined by geography, but it definitely is. There is a nostalgia for Greece, but not in the traditional flowy-dresses-and-leather-sandals kind of way. When I was growing up, I felt as if I was running away from my country because I didn’t feel like I could possibly fit in it…until I actually left.
When I left Greece, my whole aesthetic was tied to the person I thought I was going to be. Part of me had already formed into this mold while another part was tied to my upbringing on an island. It has taken me years, and I’m still not completely there, to find a middle ground between the nostalgia for my life in Greece and the energy and friction of my life in New York City. These two places are so significant to my being and my feelings for both of them are translated in my work. I try to play with the softness and harshness of these two places and honor what they have given me.
A mood board by Faidra.
Do you always plan to operate Danae under a made-to-order model?
Danae doesn’t strictly operate under a made-to-order model, but it often does because of financial reasons. I choose to work with higher-end materials and therefore have to be more selective in my production process. By allowing potential buyers to pre-order garments, I understand how popular an item will be and I can accurately assess order quantities and production costs. I find this process stressful, so I hope to use a different model soon, but it all depends on the product I’m making.
What has been one of your most popular pieces so far?
Danae’s Breakfast in Greece (B.I.G.) t-shirt has done very well. This shirt is an homage to the warm feeling of having breakfast in Greece. For me, breakfast in Greece is all about the smells, simplicity, and freshness of everything on the table. I might also have such wistful memories of this moment of the day because I’m usually enjoying it with my family.
The artwork that I created for the t-shirt has all of the familiar trappings of my Greek breakfasts: little Easter eggs, my mom’s favorite flowers, and my favorite jams.
I didn’t expect this shirt to be so popular. I thought I would be the only person who understood the nuances of the graphics, but people have felt so connected to it. I now recognize how similar we all are and how our culture, food, traditions, and art can bring us together.
You just moved your office to Astoria. What does this neighborhood offer you that another couldn’t?
Astoria offers me so much space! At first, I considered selecting a spot in the Fashion District in midtown Manhattan because it has always been a comfortable place for me. It’s where all the family-owned factories, sample makers, and fabric shops that I’ve always worked with are located. But, after exploring the options in that area, I realized I needed something bigger and more flexible. Yes, I needed an office, but I also needed a design studio, a place to create samples and manage production, somewhere to store shipping and inventory, and everything in between. Astoria provided me with the square footage to do all of this. My office is complete with everything I could possibly need at the ready and I have also dedicated a small corner of it for photoshoots. A painting from my father Michalis Papakalododoukas hangs just across from this little photography studio.
Moving to this neighborhood has been the biggest blessing in disguise. In Astoria, I’m still close to the city and it has been great for me personally. The Greek community here is still strong and brings me a sense of familiarity and belonging.
Tell us more about “Dressing the Table,” your new collaboration with Marianthi Vlachos who is the owner of Hellenic Aesthetic.
I first met Marianthi, the owner of Hellenic Aesthetic, America’s first Greek fashion retailer, at one of her events a few years ago. Marianthi and I bonded over being Greek and being young female entrepreneurs who wanted to honor our heritage and culture in our businesses. We started working together when she reached out to stock the B.I.G tees in her store. We’ve had to restock them a few times since!
Our new collaboration that we launched last week is entitled “Dressing the Table.” The collaboration also actively engages the community. To participate, customers send us their grandmother’s tablecloths and we’ll repurpose them into something they can wear– the Maria Dress or Ismalia Top. I’ll be custom-making these pieces in the new Danae studio. This circular fashion project re-purposes a family heirloom into something modern and meaningful. It is an infinite labor of love and meraki (passion) for me.
This idea stemmed from Marianthi. She saw her grandmother’s hand embroidered tablecloths being tucked away rather than being used. This is an image that I think many Greek families have– not only of packing family pieces away but also memories of grandmothers embroidering tablecloths and pressing them neatly before setting a big family table.
How has the local Greek community supported your business, if at all?
I wanted to grow and mature when I first moved to New York City from Greece, so I didn’t try to connect with the Greek culture here. I purposefully left my country to be in the heart of this city because it is so diverse and energetic. I wanted to be surrounded by its different cultures, meet people of diverse backgrounds, and sharpen my understanding of and skills in fashion. These were my main goals.
I didn’t find much in common with the local Greek community at first, and I never truly cared to prove my worth to them. I always knew that the right people in the community would find me when I was ready for them, and that’s exactly what happened. I’ve received so much support, especially from young Greek women entrepreneurs who live here. I’m so thankful for them. I think young educated Hellenes with a deep appreciation for our culture and our people are the future of this community in New York City, and I can’t wait to see what we accomplish together and independently.
What new products are you working on now?
I’ve always been very drawn to designing clothes based on the sensuality that exists in the female form and in womanhood. My upcoming designs could be described as more intimate, but I prefer not to categorize them as I want women to wear whatever they want. Since I don’t release seasonal collections yet, I intuitively design pieces that I feel are currently missing from Danae. If my chosen garment makes me happy and proud, then I’ll most likely launch it.
What is something unexpected that you had to learn during your process as an entrepreneur?
I believe that to have a successful brand these days, you have to be the brand yourself– in front of the camera and behind it. I’m constantly reminding myself of this, even if I don’t prefer it. I love being backstage and exploring the intimate and technical side of making garments. Before social media, it was possible to just focus on those skills and still be successful. Now – to sell a product – you need to tell a story that resonates with your audience. Showing more personal moments helps me achieve this. I’m always trying to diminish the impostor syndrome that comes with being so visible.
What are your dream goals for Danae?
My dream was to start Danae. Now that I have, I hope it continues to grow and evolve into a space where my customers and I can become a community. I want to be close with the women I dress and for them to trust that each piece they purchase was made with their real bodies in mind. I design for curves, and I want to be able to be more and more technical about that with my clothes. I want people to understand that when they buy something from Danae, it will last and it will fit them well. The possibilities of growing a business nowadays are endless, but as long as what I do feels genuine to me and makes women feel seen and respected, I’ve achieved my goal.
I want to be able to sustain Danae so that it also sustains me, while also giving back to the community.
Keep up with Faidra Tzedakis on her Instagram @faidratzedakis and @danaeofficial_.
