Two sisters, one big dream and a great result. Melina and Anastasia’s collection is chic and the color palette is beautiful; you’ll fall in love with these creations and definitely would want one for your upcoming party! Their story is all about courage and dedication.

Tell us about the story of your brand.

The Mannequin Collection was launched back at 2014 in Thessaloniki, Greece, and it is the personal experiment of two sisters, Melina + Anastasia, who decided to pursue their childhood dream and work in fashion, after completing their studies in Finance and Architecture respectively. This combination has been both helpful and challenging and not having a background in fashion has made every little step, a victory to be celebrated.  Anastasia’s architectural background has always been present in their collections through the use of geometry, layers, combinations of colors and materials and the general approach that each garment is 3D model representing the designer’s aesthetics.  MAnnequin’s collections are small but unique! Every single garment is designed and sewn in Greece by a small team, with an eye on detail, in order to preserve sustainability and high quality. One thing that remains constant from one collection to the other is their love of combining textures, colors and patterns and, of course, their philosophy, which is “we design, based on how we feel every time”. 

What's the concept of your latest collection? 

Our Spring/Summer “Girly Geometry” collection combines the geometrical patterns, that define the brands aesthetics, with girly and airy elements.  Stiff, glossy fabrics are mixed with soft, flowing tulle. Classic neutral colors, such as black, white and grey coexist with pastel hues that can be found in a blossoming garden during springtime, in a collage of shapes placed carefully, in order to create beautiful outfits.  For the creation of this collection we drew inspiration from various forms of art like music, cinema and literature. Our goal was to take everyone along for a journey in the mysterious universe of fairytales, while, at the same time, keeping in touch with the present. 

What inspires you the most? 

Inspiration can be found anywhere. While travelling abroad to new destinations, in history, in art and in architecture, in music and cinema, even in the grocery store but one of the most inspirational things is designing for strong, independent women. Everything can be essential, you just need to be open minded.  

How does the place you live in affect your design? 

We believe that the place that we live in affects us in very subtle ways, it is part of our dna in a way so we don’t always realise its presence in our collections. Of course as mediterranean people summer has always been a bit more inspiring for us, but to be honest, it is the unfamiliar places and images that we find more intriguing, not the familiar ones.  

What's the future of fashion, according to you? 

The latest pandemic has sent shockwaves through all parts of society, changing rapidly the way we operate, not only as individuals but as companies as well. Now, it might seem difficult to plan ahead and to make long term goals, but we have to take advantage of the opportunity given to us to change, rethink and restructure. Slowing down and focusing on quality over quantity, practicality over vanity, is inevitable now. To stay afloat, brands will have to become really sustainable and let fashion return to its basic beauty, which has always been the expression of individuality. After all, most of the best designs were made from struggle. 

What's your next project?  

We are currently working on our next collection, called “Change of plans” and it is going to be very personal since it will be about the change in our lives when we launched the brand, the inevitable changes we have to make now if we want to survive this global crisis and there is a little pun hidden in there, since plans are also a term in architectural design which, once more, will play a great part in this collection. 

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