Pepi Nikolopoulou
I don’t paint.
That is why, when I received the invitation to the MANTILITY workshop at the Megaron Garden, my first reaction was one of hesitation. I liked the idea, I liked the aesthetic behind the project, but I simply could not imagine myself sitting in front of a blank piece of fabric with a paintbrush in hand.
Just to be safe, I enlisted a friend. I thought her presence might somehow conceal my own awkwardness in front of the blank fabric that awaited us.
I could never have imagined how liberating this experience would turn out to be.
The afternoon was warm. The Megaron Garden was at its most beautiful hour. Light filtered through the trees, the tables had been carefully arranged, and people from different worlds had already begun to gather around them. People from fashion, media, the arts and communications.
In front of us lay a piece of fabric, three colours, blue, red and white, and the freedom to do whatever we wanted. With a glass of wine for company and small delicacies prepared down to the last detail, we hesitantly began making our first brushstrokes.
At first, I spent more time looking at everyone else’s fabric than my own.
Then I made the first brushstroke.
And then another one.
Then I stopped thinking.
I do not remember how much time passed. I only remember that the conversations around the table gradually faded. Most people had immersed themselves in their own small process. No one seemed concerned about whether the result would be beautiful, correct or worthy of presentation. No one appeared to be trying to impress anyone.
And that was perhaps the most liberating aspect of the evening.
Later, when we moved from cotton fabric to silk, the feeling changed. The material possessed a lightness of its own. It slipped through your fingers and demanded a different kind of attention. Colour is absorbed quickly by silk and often takes you somewhere other than where you had originally intended to go.
At the end of the evening, we laid all the pieces side by side. What had only moments earlier been individual brushstrokes, colours and spontaneous gestures suddenly resembled a complete collection. Like the different parts of a shared visual narrative that no one had planned in advance.
The workshop had been conceived by MANTILITY in collaboration with Hydra Edition as a collective artistic experience. The different lines, colours and spontaneous gestures of all participants were never intended to remain confined to that single afternoon in the Megaron Garden. The outcome of the gathering will form the basis of a collectible limited-edition silk scarf by MANTILITY in collaboration with Hydra Edition. The scarf will first be presented in Hydra as part of a Hydra Edition pop-up event and will subsequently be available through MANTILITY, carrying with it something of the creative energy, colours and stories we shared that day.
Behind MANTILITY stands Vasiliki-Zafeiria Ypsilanti, the woman who chose to reintroduce the scarf not as a simple fashion accessory but as an object of culture, art and contemporary Greek design. Her story feels very much like one of reinvention, born from the idealistic impulse of a woman determined to chart a new course for herself and set new goals. She envisions a scarf that becomes the protagonist of a creative dialogue with Greek artists, designers and makers, redefining its place and value in contemporary life. Not coincidentally, the brand’s name combines the Greek word for scarf, “mantili”, with the English word “mentality”. For her, silk is a vehicle for cultural storytelling and personal expression.
I put on my silk scarf with its red splashes of colour. Art does not belong only to those who know how to paint. It belongs to everyone willing to make that first brushstroke. Every art starts with a dot. The beginning had already been made.
MANTILITY: The Mentality of Silk
Founded by Vasiliki-Zafeiria Ypsilanti, MANTILITY is Greece’s first Silk Gallery. Working with Greek silk and collaborating with more than 65 contemporary artists and designers, the brand reimagines the silk scarf as a collectible object that bridges art, fashion and design.
Based in Kavala and active in Athens, MANTILITY promotes a contemporary Greek creative identity through limited-edition silk pieces that combine craftsmanship, artistic expression and cultural storytelling.
