WHEN VISITING Vardas these days in Athens, you will find an interesting dialogue between art and fashion going on. Within the context of its ongoing Fashion & Art events, Vardas 1939 has chosen the works of eight contemporary artists in order to exhibit them in the shop windows of its stores in Athens, within the context of its ‘Making Summer Memories’ project. The works of artists Liza Merlin Vasilatou, Kostas Garifallos, Stella Sevastopoulos, Angelike Kostallou, Giannis Kaminis, Petros Santos, Katerina Kostogiannou and Christos Zographos were chosen to represent the Greek summer for this project, which runs till the beginning of September.

In this way, Vardas 1939, in the context of social corporate responsibility, has extended its activities to cultural events and the world of art, by launching on 28/6/2022 this ‘Fashion & Art’ event, with the aim of presenting artists with unique skills and forms of artistic expression. This is an original presentation of the relationship between fashion & art, as an ongoing ‘Fashion Art Happening’.

In the context of this new activity, Vardas is starting its first collaboration with renowned Greek painters from Greece and abroad, where through their works and the Vardas Summer Collection, the Greek summer and the fundamental need of all of us to create ‘new memories’ becomes the focus. After all, the ‘Making Summer Memories’ project is what characterizes the company’s summer collection, as evident already from its display online and from its store windows (https://www.vardas.gr/ en/) .

The curator of the group of artists is Mr Dimitris Lazarou, responsible for the concept, organization and communication of visual exhibitions and other forms of art, in cultural spaces and well-known galleries. The artists participating in the ‘Making Summer Memories’ project will donate 20% from the sale of their works to support the work of Hopegenesis & Desmos charities. The intention of the Vardas company is to highlight art and fashion in unique ways, creating through its showcases a living art and fashion gallery.

A few words about the HOPEgenesis organization

HOPEgenesis is a Greek civil non-profit company founded in 2015 and active in the field of health and social welfare, with a vision to reverse the rates of low fertility in Greece.

Its aim is to inform, analyze and study the causes of the issue of low birth rates, with the aim of creating actions that will reverse the negative balance of births and deaths. The organization works and focuses on solutions to reverse subfertility both at the level of local communities – in order to provide the necessary safety to women who are pregnant or wish to become pregnant – and in the wider social fabric through awareness and study of the issue.

A few words about the Desmos foundation

Desmos (www.desmos.org) is a Non-Profit Association with the aim of meeting the needs of vulnerable groups through the maximum utilization of surplus from individuals and companies. Since its establishment in January 2012 until today, Desmos, with its offices in Athens and Thessaloniki, has served an ever-growing network of 341 social benefit organizations in Greece, helping a total of over 200,000 short-term and long-term beneficiaries thanks to the offer of more than 110 companies and hundreds of individuals. The estimated value of the goods managed by Desmos exceeds 1,000,000 euros.

Vardas shops and works of artists exhibited:

Vardas, Neo Psychiko branch: Works by Liza Merlin Vasilatou and Kostas Garyfallos.

Vardas, Kifissia branch: Works by Stella Sevastopoulos

Vardas, Faliro branch: Works by Angelike Kostalou

Vardas, Glyfada branch: Works by Giannis Kaminis and Petros Santos

Vardas, The Mall Athens branch: Work by Katerina Kostogiannou

Vardas, Golden Hall branch: Work by Christos Zographos