Elena Syraka has an eye for beauty, there is no gainsaying that.  She artfully transforms jewels, gems and emeralds to precious personal items.  Our common interest for art and design became the bridge which brought us close seven years ago, when I used to borrow her creations for fashion and design editorials, ever since my first steps as a stylist for prestigious Greek magazines. Of course, I have always admired her work, consequently, our mutual appreciation to one another, soon evolved into a strong friendship.  Therefore, I welcomed ''her proposition'' to work together for Kiehl’s Greece challenging and lovingly creative venture, namely the redesign of their famous tote bag, with my pleasure.  It is exactly the outcome of that experience, namely our own creative version of the Kieh’ls tote bag; we would like to share with artists, fans, and Kiehl’s avid supporters, right at the heart of a yes fly zone.

After putting much aesthetic acumen, the redesign of our single and unique version of the bag is finally manifested in an artistic creation with a rich story to tell. Redesigning a tote bag for Kiehl’s could not be an easy assignment, for the brand’s holistic philosophy calls for serious consideration of every single parameter that describes the necessary elements constituting all that their “message” conveys to the consumer of Kiehl’s cosmetic products.
 

Being eco-friendly and sophisticated, they cater for your needs to remain healthy and beautiful but … not for ''Beauty’s sake'' alone. There is a whole philosophy which components is the exploration of beauty secrets, within a context of ecological consciousness and strict compliance with environmental protection regulations - bear in mind that at ''ATTICA Shopping Center'' Kiehl’s initiative aims at developing citizen’s ecological consciousness, as well as the application of technological innovation in reference with the process followed for the production of their cosmetics.  All things considered, Kiehl’s strategy triggered off the swift of the pendulum in favor of the quality of their cosmetic products, with a promise the company has made – and they stick to it, namely to remain socially and environmentally active.

Therefore, in order to provide you with a scintillating depiction of Kiehl’s ideology, we had to think which words best describes the redesign of our own version. “Transparency” does meet the criterion, for it is about being flawless and scanned through. Then we needed a suitable place, where transparency is tested. It occurred to us that the best location would be ‘at some airport,’ during the security check-in, for Kiehl’s approach to beauty, apart from being crystal clear it is also universal, imaginative and resists any criticism on production methods.
 
In brief, our redesign, could not describe anything else than purity and simplicity, social sensitivity and the desire to share – inherent to us- our secrets with everyone.

So off we went! We both gathered our favorite Kiehl’s products; put them in a handmade nécessaire which was stitched on the bag and we scanned both of them......In reality we printed a colors inverted picture of the products on the bag to give an ''exposed on screen test''-feeling, before taking off. 

Our airbus concept is a symbol of discovery of any faraway place of your own choice.  However, you will not need any atlas, nor does any particular destination appear to us more or less intriguing. In reality, it can be a place of your imagination, so we suggest you visualized it during your ''flighty'' talks!  A propos, “ecology does remain an imperative to us”, but do not be misled “we need some gas to move on!”  And that refuel at the land of Kiehl’s is… maybe a new beauty secret … to be released – hopefully – very soon…

Reminders!
Do not forget the in store surprise for you; in our previous post, published on May 16, we invite you to come to ATTICA (Panepistimiou 9, Athens) between May 26 and June 2, 2011 to be photographed at the Kiehl’s stand, and your Polaroid snap with your details will be entered into the prize draw for your favorite bag!  The prize draw will be held at Kiehl’s in ATTICA on June 2 at 6 - 8pm.  Be there to claim your very own Kiehl’s designer tote bag! 
 

*** The idea lying behind the Kiehl’s initiative is that for every single version of the bags which will be redesigned, Kiehl's Greece offers €100 that will be granted for the creation of an Ecological Art Workshop for children who live in the districts of Ceramikos – Metaxourgio in Athens, Greece.  Eco Art Workshop is held in cooperation with the N.G.O ''Greece Clean'', and welcomes children to create art with recyclable materials, thus developing an ecological consciousness and living this experience through a pleasant educational method.   Eco Art is an integration of art and recycling.   It constitutes the means for the presentation of propositions on the following subjects: nature, everyday life in civil societies and art.  Consequently, a new dimension of life to already used objects is being shaped.  Paper, newspapers, beverage cans, plastic cups, and plastic bottles are combined with a vision to create unique art pieces, mocking up our “obsession” of consumption and promoting the idea of recycling. Kiehl's workshop will take place at Rebecca Camhi Gallery.