Interview with Christina Christodoulou
The founder of IT'S A SHIRT, a rare clothing brand hailing from Greece.
I first came across IT'S A SHIRT through Kennedy Magazine, an independent Greek publication that explores culture through the personal stories of its authentic actors. With its moody Instagram page filled with film photography and being a rare clothing brand hailing from Greece, IT'S A SHIRT felt like a breath of fresh air.
In February 2020, right before the pandemic hit, my wife and I had the opportunity to visit Athens. It was only natural to learn more about the brand in its native habitat. Although IT'S A SHIRT didn't have a physical presence at the time, the founder, Christina Christodoulou, kindly invited us to meet in person at heteroclito, the premier Athens destination for Greek wine (featured in my guide to Athens).
Not only did we spend a lovely evening over a couple of glasses of wine, but Christina also brought several items from the latest collection with her. Now, that’s what I call true hospitality. It is so rare for me to meet a local and have an exciting and meaningful conversation, that I still appreciate Christina taking her time to welcome us.
You already know that we ended up buying a beautiful coat for my wife made of wool and cashmere herringbone fabric by Kynoch of Scotland. The coat is so good I couldn’t resist borrowing it a few times, though the sleeves are a bit short for me.
On my next trip to Athens, I had the pleasure of visiting IT’S A SHIRT’s beautiful new store. We chatted about the challenging experience of opening a brick-and-mortar during the first months of lockdown. Christina shared her plans for a pop-up in Stockholm, collaborating with local artist Amanda Nordqvist, who would be painting 10 meters of fabric live to be transformed into a very limited edition shirt capsule later. I asked for the latest local tips and bought myself a light green linen shirt, which I recently posted on my Instagram.
I love how IT'S A SHIRT defies categorization into a specific, immaculately curated theme. It doesn't conform to the typical niches like Ivy style, 80s volume, or abstract minimalism. Instead, it draws inspiration from a little bit of everything, provoking a vague sense of nostalgia that may have never happened, yet appears to be very relatable. Or may be it’s just my own personal interpretation.
Although IT'S A SHIRT has already gained a following in Scandinavian countries and Japan, I still believe the brand doesn’t get the exposure it deserves. That is why I reached out to Christina to delve into her personal background and the essence of IT’S A SHIRT.
Christina Christodoulou in her own words
I was born and raised in Athens growing up in the Piraeus area, close to the port. I studied at the School of Fine Arts and then accomplished a master's degree in Textile Design at the Swedish Textile University.
My family used to own a small clothing manufacturing space where I had been during my formative years. My father has been manufacturing garments for over 30 years. Greece used to be huge in garment manufacturing. However, this changed when everyone moved their manufacturing to Asia, and Greek production decayed.
In 2017 my dad and I started a small line of unisex shirts using Greek linen made in Nafpaktos. For three years, I was making shirts for friends and friends of friends, as well as working for other designers in Sweden and then Greece.
In Stockholm, I started as an intern at OUR LEGACY, assisting with the shootings as well as making visuals. This job helped me to have an insight into this work. In my firm belief, it takes as much time and creativity as designing a collection. How the final product is presented to the audience is as much significant as the quality of the garment itself.
Coming back to Greece in 2020, I started working for a Greek luxury womenswear brand. There, I got experience in production, the wholesale side of things, and the planning of collections.
At the same time, I had been running IT'S A SHIRT as a side project. Then I ventured out to start living from it and rent a small space in the city which is a small store and studio. The space had to be renovated, and thankfully I got a grant from a private Greek foundation. In this way, I accomplished renovating the space and making it IT’S A SHIRT’s first home.
This is when I focused on the project. I thought it was a great chance to boost the Greek creative scene in terms of locally produced garments.
The shirts are focused on a specific topic or story each time. It can be a location or a fabric selection, or simply a stimulus. We have kept the sewing machines and the equipment in a suburb of Athens where my dad and I make the patterns, cut, produce, and sew the shirts. Every now and then we have a tailor who can proceed with the work when I am in the store. There is a lot of research behind it, from the chosen fabrics to the collaborations I have with creatives from different fields and countries.
The source of fabrics is being done through personal work. I usually dig into old warehouses or deadstock materials that are still available in the Greek market, such as furniture fabrics, English wool, jacquard from France, or Italian linen. Sometimes there are treasures such as heavy cotton from Peiraiki-Patraiki, the largest textile producer in Greece that went out of business in 1996. Their fabrics were pure gold.
Also, recently I created the 'CLASSICS' which is a recurrent series focused on a classic unisex shirt that can be worn during the whole year. For this collection, I mainly use poplins from Italy, Switzerland, and Austria and linen from South Greece. It is the most premium series at the moment.
Collaborating is also one of the core values of IT'S A SHIRT, from ceramists to painters and visual artists. The latest collaboration that will be launched is with a textile designer from Sweden. The deadstock Greek fabric has been painted by hand on a big surface in Stockholm, and we have cut the 10 meters into pieces to shape 16 unique shirts. Other collaborations I had were with ceramic artists from France, Camille Romagnani, painter and artist Hank Gruner (from OUR LEGACY), Navine Khan Dossos making exclusive patterns for Athens Biennale in 2021, and so on.
All in all, IT'S A SHIRT is not a clothing brand but a lifestyle that concentrates on conscious customers and human beings who want to be totally aware of what they wear. What I do for IT'S A SHIRT is more of a personal life approach than 'work'. It is a poly prismatic project/brand based in Athens and, hopefully, it will resist the mass production times we live through.
Thank you for reading the article until the end🙏 It genuinely means a lot to me.
Now that you got to know Christina and IT’S A SHIRT a little closer, let’s wait and see until the major fashion media will wake up and include the brand into their next ‘10 under-the-radar labels to know‘.
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PS In case you feel inspired about Greece, check out my travel guide to Athens and the interview with Chris Kontos, the founder of Kennedy Magazine.