Yiannis Evangelides

Dress by Evangelides, New York, 1956. PFF Collection.

Yiannis Evangelides (Greek: Γιάννης Ευαγγελίδης) was a Greek fashion designer.

Evangelides was born in Cyprus and moved to Athens when he was 18. He married Vasso Kourtidi. Evangelides originally intended to become a pianist, but after designing dresses for his wife which she had made up by her dressmaker, he decided to go into fashion design.[1] Before World War II broke out in 1939, Evangelides was a couturier in Athens for 20 years.[1][2] Among his clients was the future Queen of Greece, Frederica of Hanover, who Evangelides described in 1958 as his easiest, least demanding client.[3] Frederica patronised Evangelides between 1938 and 1945.[4]

His first New York show was held in January 1940, showing pleated gowns in blue and terracotta, with short decorative jackets and draped scarves directly referencing Greek folk costume.[5] In 1951 Evangelides had returned to New York, where he planned to stay and establish himself as a designer, not just of couture, but of ready-to-wear for the wholesale market.[1] Alongside his twenty years' experience in high end fashion design, he had also worked for five years as a designer for a wholesaler's in Capetown, California.[1] In 1954 Evangelides became a designer for the custom salon at Bonwit Teller, where his dresses, presented alongside imported Paris gowns, were noted for their use of tucks and pleats.[2] In 1958, Evangelides owned a dress shop on East 57th Street, titled "Yanni".[4] He offered his first ready-to-wear collection in 1958.[6]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Staff writer (26 June 1951). "Designers are Attracted to America". The Hutchinson News. Retrieved 16 October 2015 – via Newspapers.com.
  2. 1 2 Sheppard, Eugenia (16 March 1954). "Talented Greek Designing Here". Council Bluffs Nonpareil. Retrieved 16 October 2015 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. ↑ Staff writer (30 October 1958). "Potpourri". Medford Mail Tribune. Retrieved 16 October 2015 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. 1 2 Robertson, Nan (21 October 1958). "Frederika of Greece Arrives Today With Wardrobe Fit for Queen; Sovereign Will Wear Clothes by Desses on Tour of U.S.". New York Times (subscription required). Retrieved 16 October 2015.
  5. ↑ New York reporter (31 January 1940). "Grecian Gowns seen in Unusual Showing". The Montreal Gazette. Retrieved 16 October 2015.
  6. ↑ Staff writer (1 October 1958). "Silk Fabrics Star in Fall Fashions". The Deseret News. Retrieved 16 October 2015.
Further reading
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