Dimitris Grammatikoyiannis
The Fashion Revolutioner
Dimitris Grammatikoyiannis was established as a Fashion Editor, Stylist in the field of lifestyle magazines while he has pioneered the Fashion Revolution movement for changing of mentality and the transition of the fashion industry to the new era with rules of sustainability and moral values. Professor of Innovative Styling & Sustainability at AKTO art & design and founder of www.ethicalode.com. Founding member and head of PR for Fashion Revolution Greece. He is an amazing person to talk with.
How did you start your career as an ethical-eco stylist?
Exactly twenty years ago, 9/11 two thousand and one, was a date marked by the terrorist attack on the Twin Towers in New York. Until then, as a stylist, I had never thought that fashion could deal with a socio-political event like this. But the entry into the new century emphasized an inner need to create fashion images that will not just present pretty photographed clothes. Some days, later on, I created a fashion editorial with pictures depicting women from all over the world to perceive in their own way each one event. This Fashion editorial was presented in the KLIK magazine. Many times then I was asked why I associated fashion with politics and ecology. Today, I can say that maybe intuitively I filled a gap. The space between glamorous fashion, indifferent and apathetic from any ecological and social sensitivities, and the ETHICAL FASHION, which struggles to involve the public in issues of a sustainable economy.
Can we change and move to a sustainable lifestyle?
Usually, the changes scare us and take us out of what psychologists call the comfort zone. But by changing, evolving in the end, we gain our self-esteem and the appreciation of others. In more than twenty years of my career, I have noticed that people who are not afraid to evolve their appearance and adapt to a new self-image are also evolving professionally. Change is part of constant evolution. In my case, the fact that I realized very early, that Fashion must make the transition to ecology was the occasion for personal evolution and new perspectives.
Fashion is the second industry that pollutes the planet after oil. Tons of clothes are burned by companies in order to avoid the “fall” of prices and spoil their profile, while at the same time consumers buy clothes that will be worn from one to three times at most, before ending up in a landfill. Factories that produce clothes with workers in slavery, with child labor, working conditions with enormous risks for workers. And let no one believe that anything can change. And when the Rana Plaza factory, in Bangladesh, collapsed in 2013, killing 1138 women and children and injuring many more, voices were heard and the Fashion Revolution was created. A movement that includes everyone, designers, producers, entrepreneurs, workers, and consumers. The message I want to convey is don’t buy clothes from fast fashion and generally items that will end up being thrown away quickly. Buy brands that support charities and anonymous but sustainable designers who care about longevity and timelessness.
Could you give us some more details for the site you are leading, www.ethicalode.com I would like to remark here, that you introduced the word «ode» to the fashion industry versus «code».
As far as the ethical ode is concerned, the site I’m leading for the last six years has been distinguished because, faster than the changes that are now taking place globally, we wanted from the very first moment to involve the fashion world with social and ecological concerns. Topics such as “Not in my backyard” regarding the refugee crisis, “Philoxenia” as another concept developing the term, “Atene Povera” which is an anthem for Athens that we keep silent and it was a challenge for me as a stylist to use the attic of a luxurious building but not concealing what we used to regard as ugly. I believe that every business, organization, and individual should improve, in order to meet the requirements of the new era. Do it with love and joy and be sure that you will achieve your goal despite any difficulties along the way.
