Class of 2021: Dimitris Karagiannakis explores Greek mythology to celebrate femininity and transness
This is A HOT MINUTE WITH, a quick-fire interview series championing all the rising talent catapulting into fashion, art and music’s fickle stratosphere. From pinch-me moments to bad dates and even worse chat-up lines, think of it as an overindulgent conversation – like the ones you have in sticky club toilets at 4.A.M. Except these guests don’t regret the overshare…
Graduating from the Royal College of Art, Dimitris Karagiannakis is using fashion to explore “notions of womanhood and femininity, transness, and the body,” drawing inspiration from Greek mythology and spiders to create a metamorphic design.
Filter by EMILY JANE SCOTT x CHECK-OUT
NAME DIMITRIS KARAGIANNAKIS
AGE 26
LOCATION London, England
COURSE MA Fashion
UNIVERSITY Royal College of Art
STAR SIGN Scorpio
DESCRIBE YOUR DEGREE IN THREE WORDS Rollercoaster of emotions.
Jeffrey Thomson: What was the inspiration for your final collection?
Dimitris Karagiannakis: The collection is inspired by the Greek myth of Arachne, the first spider, and focuses on the retelling of the story through a queer perspective. Arachne was a talented weaver punished by Athena for speaking up against the gods, especially Zeus who abused his power to rape mortal women. Arachne might have gotten cursed for committing hybris but in my eyes, she is a symbol of liberation! I am reimagining her as an early feminist who knows her role in society and the power in her craft, amalgamating the physicality of her metamorphosis with the subversive image of the queer body as a starting point for my designs. I worked exclusively with people from my community to develop the work and explore notions of womanhood and femininity, transness, and the body.
JT: How did you find studying at the ROYAL COLLEGE OF ART? What was the experience like - was it what you expected or completely different?
DK: Honestly, it was not what I expected at all but I also did not think that I would be completing my MA from my living room during a pandemic. I was lucky enough to experience the amazing creative energy that a school like that fosters for my first two terms at the RCA and I met some amazing people but then it was all sort of stripped away from us when the first lockdown happened. I definitely think I learned a lot and I am grateful for my tutor and rest of the staff who did their best to help guide us through this journey but I certainly miss the community we had created with the other students.
JT: What was your journey to the RCA like?
DK: I did my BA in Architecture but even before graduating, I knew I wanted to work in fashion, so I took some time off, made a capsule collection, and started applying for internships. I was lucky enough to work with established teams, which taught me a lot. When I applied for an MA the first time, I did not get offered a spot. It was devastating. I felt completely lost. It took me almost a year - and a lot of therapy - to recover and understand that this did not define my self worth. In the end, I used the experience as inspiration for the work that did land me a spot on the course.
JT: When looking back on your first project and now to your final collection, what springs to mind?
DK: I was so afraid of the making process back then. In my first term at the RCA, I was mainly focusing on digital work because I knew I had the skills to do it well and it was not required to make a garment. However, I soon realised that I would never grow if I didn’t step outside of my comfort zone. I was comparing myself to other people but the truth is that it is not a competition. We all have different skillsets which is why the work in the course is so diverse. You have to remember that no one can do what you do.
JT: What’s the biggest misconception about studying fashion?
DK: That it is somehow superficial. It really is not. Some of my friends are doing work with stroke patients, or designing for sustainable futures, or exploring the meaning of human nature and the sociology of gender. Fashion is a platform to have these conversations that are so important for us to progress as a society.
JT: What’s your biggest fashion faux pas?
DK: Thinking that “louder” is better. There is such beauty in subtlety and refinement but young designers tend to think that exaggerating everything will attract the attention that they want. Everyone wants a viral moment. But again, when there is such an oversaturation of this type of work, only the ones who do it honestly stand out. I think you can always tell if there is a point-of-view there, or if the designer simply wants to provoke.
JT: The best thing about studying in London?
DK: The people. I am constantly inspired by those around me. Strong-minded individuals with a purpose and message that cannot be silenced.
JT: And the worst?
DK: The people. Riding the tube during rush hour should be proof enough for everyone.
JT: When you’re rushing towards a deadline, what keeps you going?
DK: I would love to have an inspirational answer for you but it is probably the fear of failure. Obviously, I am very passionate about what I do and I care about the quality of the work that I put out there but I think it is being afraid to embarrass myself that keeps me going. But then again, fear is a powerful motivator. I would hate to think that I did not make a deadline because I did not plan my time well, or did not invest myself in a project.
JT: How are you celebrating post-graduation life?
DK: I am sleeping as much as I can. Seriously, I missed sleep.
JT: What’s coming up next for you?
DK: There are a lot of exciting things happening at the moment and I am very lucky to have people reach out to me to work together on different projects. I am also expanding the collection, so I will be making a few more looks and then we are going to shoot a fashion film about queer communities at the beginning of September.
JT: And lastly, what does fashion mean to you?
DK: Fashion to me means Identity. Fashion is in the material and the immaterial, it is in the moment, the movement, the emotion. Fashion is about thinking and feeling through the body, space or garment. And lastly, fashion is an indicator of the structure of society. One cannot discuss the history of humanity without considering the history of fashion.
See more from Check-Out’s Class of 2021 here.