A STUDIO screaming style from every corner, a rail packed with clothing and two dummies dressed in classic black garments is the setting for my meeting with Kika Ioannidou. She has been in the fashion industry for 20 years but unlike other designers, she is solely based in Cyprus. Kika Ioannidou hasn’t even attempted to have her designs stacked in shops across Europe as there is a little something much more important to her than fame.
“My family is more important to me than my career,” she said. “This job requires 100 per cent concentration and there is no way I could expand my career abroad and expect my children to grow up and be responsible and mature human beings.” Referring to other Cypriot designers who have had varying degrees of success abroad, Kika said it is only possible to gain a reputation outside of Cyprus if you are totally dedicated. “Erotokritos is a very talented guy and he has worked very hard to get to the point he is right now,” the mum of three says, “but his life is his work and that’s how it should be. I can’t do that right now.”
Kika isn’t really your ordinary fashion designer who opens a shop in Nicosia and makes clothes, although she does admit that she has tried. “In 1995 I decided I would give the mass market a try but it was a bit too much. I was working in Limassol and had to be in Larnaca at the same time plus I had to be a mother, so Minima by Kika, which was the name of the line, didn’t really work for me. That held out for three years.” Since then Kika has concentrated on KIKI Collections; and today she dresses most of the high society in Cyprus as well as everyday women who are in need of something different or something classic with tons of quality and style.
“Every single piece of clothing that I’ve made ever since I began comes out once. Nothing is copied and nothing can be copied,” she says, “what I do is make something that will fit the person as an individual based on the style of the skirt, dress, coat or blouse they’ve chosen. For example, you are curvy,” Kika said looking at me, “we could add or take out whatever I feel should or shouldn’t be there.” Kika feels that she owes it to her clients to act as a friend and not a salesperson. “I wouldn’t just sell anyone a certain item. I help them to decide and feel comfortable in my clothes.”
While Kika is in the middle of explaining to me how certain materials work on some bodies and not on others, the door opens as a close friend of hers arrives who wastes no time praising Kika’s talent. “Kika has a talent and an eye for fashion. She’s made clothes that are still wearable and still made by other designers,” she said. Kika blushes and admits that she has been told the same thing by others. “My clients tell me that when they spring clean their wardrobes, they throw many clothes away either because they are worn out or simply because they aren’t in fashion any more but my clothes always seem to stay untouched by time and fashion.”
Don’t get her wrong, however; she is fully aware of how difficult it is to survive in the fashion industry in Cyprus. “We are being attacked by imports and other clothing industries, which people love to shop from and some of their clothes are really nice but I don’t think that you are getting good quality clothes. It’s not a fair fight, judging from the way that we struggle to get our materials while others have zips in every colour under the sun.”
Kika has loved clothes from a very early age and was actually born into the fashion industry. “My father owned and still owns a fabric business and I have always had a mania for feeling, touching and experimenting with fabric. It was only natural that I would study fashion design.” Kika got a Batchelor Degree in Fashion Design in 1982 and went on to work for a company, which manufactured clothes for Marks & Spencer. “I had a very important position in that company from a very young age and I loved it but I couldn’t do what I wanted and I had so many ideas, so I came back to Cyprus in 1986 and started this business.”
Kika and her team show a new line of clothing twice a year. “I study and take time looking into fabrics because I consider the quality of the fabric as very important. And it is where I get my inspiration from a lot of the time.” Kika believes that the quality of her clothes is what keeps her clients coming back for more, in addition to the fact that they are made to last. “I believe that what makes me different is the fact that I have an eye for combining clothes with different colours and textures without being vulgar,” she explains.
Staying above water as a fashion designer in Cyprus is not easy and although she may have achieved greater renown by basing herself abroad, Kika is happy with the balance that she has struck. And after numerous phone calls from her three children during our interview it was apparent that has done just that; successfully juggling a family and a career.
A life on the catwalk
Of the hundreds of designs that have passed through her hands, Kika picks four that have really stood out
1. Summer 2004 – Silk Chiffon skirt with slits. Silk chiffon halter line top with bare back. Fashion Show for Fashion Targets Breast Cancer. Cultural Bank of Cyprus.
2. Summer 1996 – Linen low waist dress with white stitching detail. Charity Fashion Show for ‘Nea Eleousa’ at the Presidential Palace.
3. Winter 1998 – Black dress with lace sleeves. Fashion Show at my atelie.
4. New Collection – Grey wool, lycra dress with satin silk applications on sleeves.
