I entered Stratos’ universe a rainy afternoon and I met an old acquaintance whose life was a fairy tale, and his hands were golden. The majestic Sila, a wonderful dog, white as snow, whose name means sky in Japanese, welcomed me at the workshop’s door.
I’ve been seeing his creations all over Greece for many years. Unique, handmade scarves. I saw them in central streets of Thessaloniki, in Kolonaki, in tiny boutiques in Mykonos, in Santorini, in Milos, and I grew with pride because I knew they were weaved in my hometown.
Simple and ascetic, a fan of the wabi sabi philosophy, he chose “fathi” the simpler version of the word ifathi (woof) to name his creations.
Equal woof, equal warp
Since he can remember himself, he drew. He studied fashion design and quickly started designing complete clothes’ collections and teaching design in fashion schools, while he spent his time between Athens and Thessaloniki. At one point “I saw the first woof, and I said that’s what I want to do” he tells me emphatically. He started learning to weave at an “Agios Stylianos” Spastic Society class, and the School lent him his first loom. “Since then, I started experimenting with the loom. Experiments, experiments, experiments. When the last loom maker, Zagoraris, died, I started making my own looms apart from weaving.”
The need to escape the city quickly followed.
“I was born in Germany and I lived the first years of my life next to a dense, suburban forest. I remember seeing the surprised eyes of deer during my early walks. These experiences and the choices I was making started making living close to nature an urgent matter,” he tells me calmly.
He wanted to walk in the woods, to be inspired by the dozens shades of the autumn leaves. He sought the reflection of the light on a frozen creek, the intensity that a sunrise offers.
“Fathi” of light
“It’s an unseen woof and it stops me from seeing. I only see blue, blue and grey” is a line in Nikos Kavadias’ poem “Monsoon”.
He returned to his village, Ano Poroia, Serres, to escape the grey of the cities. A little village, hidden among the plane trees. He bought one of the oldest houses in the village, with traditional wooden frames and porches and transformed it. He started growing organic mint, that he sends all over Greece, and at the same time he set up a weaving workshop. He weaves and, at every opportunity, teaches weaving.
We talk about architecture, constructions, looms, organic farming, and, as our conversation proceeds, I notice one of his distinctive features. He has the knowledge and guts to engage with the most essential part of tradition and at the same time, calmly and silently, refresh and subvert the things he considers superfluous.
With the passing of the years, he has developed his own weaving techniques, while at the same time he builds compact looms, better suited to modern needs
Dozens different weaves, designs, colours, combinations. In Stratos’ work I discover nature, care, the joy of creation, and the honesty of the handmade. I pet Sila’s fluffy fur and leave the workshop feeling inspired.
Where you can find the scarves:
Tel.: 0030 6908740750
