Fashion design
Hotel in Santorini (Greece) design
Athens buses' Design
Greek Railways (OSE) Design
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Copyright art design and photos © Yannis Tseklenis and clients
Yannis Tseklenis is considered as the name and the talent that has put Greece on the contemporary fashion map. His creations since 1965 have been carried by leading stores in more than 20 countries and Tseklenis has won a niche in the wardrobe of thousands of well-dressed women, men and children.
Yannis Tseklenis has established a name in the international fashion market for designing thematic fabric and fashion collections. Some indicative sources that he has used have been: The Ancient Greek Vases, the Byzantine manuscripts, the Greek wood carvings and paintings, African Art, Indonesian Art, Heraldry, the Insects, Cartoons, the Persian Tapestries, Chinese Art , Spanish Art, Aegean Art, the Unicorn Tapestries and the paintings of the Impressionists, of Dominicos Theotokopoulos, of Henri Rousseau and Yannis Gaitis.
The Tseklenis signature could be also found on distinguished lines of linens, wall and floor tiles, luggage, hosiery, career uniforms and interiors of cars, aircraft and hotels.
Recently he has been mainly active in supervising artistically the creation of hotels, housing settlements and the design of public transport vehicles and other relative equipment.
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| 1937 | Born in Athens. |
| 1953 | Wins Athens College prize for painting. |
| 1956 | Gets employed in family couture-fabric retail business. |
| 1957 | Wins Eastern Mediterranean Cup of Star Class in sailing. |
| Starts car racing. | |
| 1961 | Establishes Spectra Advertising. Among the company's clients: METAXA, AEGEAN MILLS, GENERAL MOTORS. |
| 1962 | By appointment of the late King Paul decorates the ATHENS CATHEDRAL for the wedding of Princess Sofia of Greece to Juan Carlos of Spain. |
| 1963 | Exhibits his printings in ARCHITECTONIKI in Athens. |
| 1964 | Decorates the ATHENS CATHEDRAL for King Constantine's wedding to Princess Anna Maria of Denmark. |
| 1965 | Succeeds to the ownership of the family business and tries his hand in fabric design. |
| Presents his work during the Mediterranean Fashion Festival. | |
| Achieves an opening in the US Market. | |
| Designs fabrics for Elizabeth Arden Couture of New York. | |
| 1966 | Licenses his prints to the US firm Puritan Fashions Corporation. |
| 1967 | Establishes the TSEKLENIS chain of boutiques in Greece. |
| 1968 | Licenses his print dresses designs to Berketex (UK). |
| American Celanese employs him to design for 10 knitters manufacturers in Germany. | |
| Starts a small garment manufacturing operation in Athens. | |
| 1969 | Designs menswear to be included in the TSEKLENIS boutiques primarily. |
| Licenses his collection to the US firm David Crystal Inc. | |
| Licenses his hosiery designs to Berkshire Hellas. | |
| 1970 | Organises the first Group Fashion showings in Athens. |
| Licenses his ladies dresses to Frank Usher (UK). | |
| Licenses his hosiery designs to Madison S.A. | |
| 1971 | Branches out his boutiques to Beirut and Kuwait to be followed by a boutique in Riyadh. |
| Designs the uniforms of Olympic Airways hostesses. | |
| Launches his first collection of furnishing fabrics in Athens, Paris and London. | |
| 1972 | Licences his swimwear to Benger Ribana in Germany. |
| Establishes TSEKLENIS MANUFACTURING LTD in Athens. | |
| 1973 | Opens permanent showrooms in London and New York and supplies the top stores of UK and Us. |
| 1974 | Inaugurates the ultra-modern TSEKLENIS garment manufacturing plant near Athens. |
| Designs the uniforms for two Greek Banks and Air Malta. | |
| 1975 | Adds to the TSEKLENIS chain of boutiques the new CARAVEL boutique in Athens. |
| At this point the world's top stores in 24 countries carry the TSEKLENIS creations. | |
| 1976 | Presents a Persian inspired collection in Iran, and expands the TSEKLENIS collaboration with Iranian firms. |
| 1977 | Enters Memorial Hospital in New York and undergoes an operation of amputation of his left arm to prevent a reoccurrence of cancer. |
| Starts his collaboration with Greece's largest department stores MINION SA, designing school-gear. | |
| In August, because of a prolonged problem with the Greek banking system, the entire operation in Greece, factory and boutique chain closes down. | |
| He moves to New York where he signs with the International Management Group, which represent him thereafter internationally for licensing his fabrics, children wear, and sportswear. | |
| 1978 | The absence of the TSEKLENIS firm from the Greek industry and market becomes a socioeconomic issue in Greece. Is thus offered acceptable terms to return and reactivate his operation. |
| 1979 | In collaboration with the MINION stores he establishes "TSEKLENIS INTERNATIONAL FASHION ENTERPRISES" , and starts producing and distributing lines for Ladies, Menswear, Accessories, Bodywear, Action-Sportwear and Linens. |
| 7 TSEKLENIS boutiques are being installed in the MINION stores. | |
| The METROPOLITAN MUSUEM OF ART of New York, acquires the TSEKLENIS fashion films for the Museum's film library. | |
| The Hellenic Ministry of Industry assigns him to organise and head for 2 years the "HELLENIC DESIGN CENTRE" , an institution that offers designs to Greek manufacturers, encouraging greek talent. | |
| FIAT assigns him to design the interiors and face- lifting of the FIAT 126 Personal. | |
| 1980 | Achieves a comeback in the US market and opens a new showroom on Fifth Avenue. |
| 1981 | Starts a licensing program and licenses the TSEKLENIS swimwear, actionwear and rainwear to leading greek firms. |
| Re-enters the UK market and sells to the top stores of London. | |
| 1982 | Works along with Thessaloniki Fair for the organization of the Hellenic Collections in September 1982. |
| Launches TSEKLENIS JEANS. | |
| 1983 | Illustrates the publication of Roula Alavera's poem AKIDIA and exhibits the originals in Athens and Thessaloniki. |
| 1984 | Opens the "TSEKLENIS PLATEAU" in Athens an avant-garde space that houses his activities. |
| Launches a line of wall and floor tiles. | |
| Launches a line of bed sheets. | |
| Art-directs Tsilifonis' film "The City Never Sleeps", and is awarded the first prize at the Thessaloniki Film Festival and a prize of the Hellenic Cinema Centre. | |
| Designs uniforms for the Municipal and the Hellenic Police. | |
| 1985 | Opens 4 new boutiques in Greece. |
| 1987 | Is appointed chairman of Piraiki-Patraiki cotton manufacturing SA. He sets forth a marketing plan to launch products with greek brands. |
| 1988 | Launches his two fragrances, PAN for men, and NYMPHE for women. |
| Designs the interiors of the entire OLYMPIC AIRWAYS fleet of aircraft. | |
| 1989 | Resigns from Piraiki-Patraiki. |
| Designs a line of silver goblets, plates, platters and candlesticks. | |
| 1990 | Designs a complete line of ceramics for the table. |
| 1991 | Launches the "Electronic House 2000" a futuristic project in collaboration with the architect Ingrid Fragantoni. |
| 1992 | Becomes more active in interior and environmental design and art-directs the establishment and the construction of the VEDEMA HOTEL complex in Santorini. |
| 1993/4 | Art directs the creation of the presidential cottages in the Lagonissi Hotel complex. |
| Designs the uniforms for the Hellenic Railways, the Hellenic Festivals and the Hellenic Duty Free Shops. | |
| 1995 | Designs special lines of silk scarves and silk accessories among which a special line for the jewellery museum of 'Ilias Lalaounis'. |
| Designs Biomagnetic Hosiery and Shoes for Slim International. | |
| Designs Aircraft Interiors for the Hellenic Aerospace Industries. | |
| 1996 | Designs the total look of the interior and exterior of several types of trains and buses of the Hellenic Railways Organisation ( OSE ). |
| 1997 | Donates his entire collection of protοtype garments from most of his 70 fashion lines to the Peloponnesean Folklore Foundation. |
| 1998 | Designs the buses and the trolleys of the city of Athens. |
| 1998/9 | Art directs the refurbishment of the luxurious hotel complex ZANNOS MELATHRON in Santorini. |
| 1999 | Designs the new suburban trains of the Hellenic Railways Organization ( OSE ). |
| Assigned by the national television presents through channel 1, 13 episodes directed by his son Constantinos, with a title “The good and reverse side” criticising the aesthetic in Greece. | |
| Organizes the JEAN DESSES and YANNIS TSEKLENIS retrospectives in Athens. | |
| Publishes the TSEKLENIS’ SCRAP BOOK. | |
| 2000 | Design the fleet of natural gas burning buses of Athens. |
| Participates as artistic consultant in the development of the ΚΑΤΗΙΜΕRΙΝΗ new building in Neo Faliro | |
| 2001 | Designs and supervises the upgrading of SANTORINI – KASTELLI RESORT HOTEL in Kamari, Santorini. |
| 2002 | Designs LA MALTESE Restaurant in Imerovigli, Santorini. |
| Designs and supervises the face lifting of the renown hotel DANAI BEACH RESORT in Chalkidiki. | |
| 2003 | Designs the personel uniforms of the hotels GRANDE BRETAGNE in Athens and MELITON PORTO CARRAS in Chalkidiki. |
| Designs private villas in Athens and Hydra. | |
| 2004 | Designs and supervises a stone house settlement on the island Tinos consisting of 18 villas. Designs his new family house in Dionyssos. |
| 2006 | Designs and supervises the restoration of landmark buildings in Metaxourgio, an upcoming neighbourhood of Athens. |
| 2007 | Completes the creation of a private residence in Dionyssos. |
| 2008 | The Telloglio Foundation of Arts exhibits his collection inspired from El Greco (1978) along with Picasso’s Suite 347. |
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Awards
- SILVER
CROSS OF THE ORDER OF PHOENIX
- MAIDEN OF CYCLADES (HELLENIC FASHION CENTRE)
- GOLD MEDAL OF FASHION (HELLENIC FASHION INSTITUTE)
Yannis Tseklenis is married to Efi Melas and has a son,
Constantinos, from his first marriage.
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