"I was so naïve when I began and told my parents that I would not be able to sell anything from my first collection"
Katrantzou debuted her own label in 2008, immediately creating a highly recognisable signature style based on trompe l’oeil prints – from giant gems and jewellery to perfume bottles and architectural prints. By 2011 she had won the British Fashion Award for Emerging Talent; by 2015 the Vogue/BFC Fashion Fund award with a £200,000 grant.
However, Katrantzou admitted that she used to think that because her prints were so central to her style she was addressing a narrow elite. “But because my silhouettes are relatively covered up and easy to wear I was really being very democratic. I have actually dressed three generations of women in the same family. From a terribly elegant grandmother, to a self-assured professional mum, to a granddaughter who wanted to be more girly, which made me very happy,” said Katrantzou.