"SHE IS ART"- Pavlina Bechrakis

I must have been 16 years old when I started to become obsessed with the fashion industry and in my daily search for new standards and trends, I ran into Pavlina. A young girl, a few years older than me with an eccentric style, creativity, and passion for art. From the years of my adolescence until now she has been an inspiration to me.

Pavlina Bechraki, is a young artist, who during the quarantine revealed to the world of social media her artistic vein as well as her first collection entitled "ART HEIST" which she presented at Bank Job & Shamonette in Athens. For the last issue of the year, I decided to contact her for the following interview and photo shoot

How do you manage to combine fashion and art? Though I find that fashion and art are one, I'm referring to your daily work.

Fashion is art and I feel very lucky to be in the fashion business right after I finished my studies. Truth be told, is that creative people excel in this industry. I would never bear to work on something uncreative Besides causing me misery, I think I'd be hopeless at it too!

What is it like to be an artist in Greece?

These are harsh times, but those difficulties the artist must translate into creativity and be inspired by the emotions created by each situation. For example, during the first quarantine I created my first complete collection entitled "ART HEIST" which I presented in Athens at Bank Job in early July and again in September at Shamonette.

Pavlina, I'd like to thank you again for this interview. At LUSH we believe it is important to promote young artists. How did you come in contact with the art world, what won you over and where does your inspiration comes from?

I grew up in an artistic family, so I had quite a few influences, my grandmother is a visual artist and poet and my mother a painter. My relationship with colors and brushes began from a very young age and since then I have not stopped for almost 6 years at Celia Kritharioti, the historic haute couture atelier in Plaka founded in 1906. It was and still is a great school for me. I'm sure this job helped me in more ways than one to become who I am today. I have travelled to the most beautiful places in the world and have met the most important people in fashion and art

Your motto is "I am art". Could you tell us exactly what that means?

Each creation is "me". It's what is in my head. Everything that comes out of my soul Everything I've experienced in the past and what I feel now.

Like our last show at the British museum, it was an incredibly moving moment for me because it combined my two passions: fashion and art. And for this, I am truly thankful to my favorite designer and artist Celia Krithariotis and the entire creative team

Do you have any plans for the near future?

The secrecy of not sharing your plans keeps art lovers on their toes, so I would rather not reveal them until I realize them.

Finally, what would you advise young people who would like to enter the field of art and fashion?

My advice is that no matter what happens, we must chase our dreams That is the only way incredible things happen. It is very important to set goals and see we are achieving them. Artists are dreamers, but we also must be reasonable and stay grounded.