CRAFT COUTURE
Inside The Danai’s New All-Greek Fashion & Jewellery Ateliers: Craftsmanship and Culture, Celebrated as Bold Wearable Art
The Danai, Halkidiki, Greece: A raffia sunhat catches the eye first, paired with the painted silk kaftan it was cut to match. Further in, a carved backgammon board, its squares set in walnut and mother-of-pearl, displayed like a sculpture. Beside it, tasselled silk pouches, dyed in small batches. Cushions in bold prints sit near hand-thrown ceramics, silk scarves, fans, and parasols. Candles are filling the room with luxurious scents and small olive-wood sculptures catch the eye near the door. A rack of selected resort dresses feels light to the touch, each piece carrying an original print painted by a local Greek artist exclusively for its design.
Every piece here is sourced individually from Greece’s most skilled designers and is woven into one name: Vent d’Été, itself a curated work of art.
VENT D’ÉTÉ
Pleats fold with sculptural precision across a rail of Alexandra Tsoukala’s dresses and tunics, alongside her stylish jewellery made from fabric. Kourelou’s bags come in a range of woven and stitched silhouettes. Malami’s hand-painted canvases appear in silk bags and in the cushions. Amphora Collection’s bucket bags curve into the shape of the ancient vessel that gave the label its name, while GK Handcrafters and Xanthopoulou Georgia round out the wall of bags, each built on the same instinct for handwork. Resort wear comes from THEMIS Z., cut for the ease of the Greek summer. Woodwork was sourced by Manopoulos, Greece’s best-known crafter. The ceramics come from Kottaki, hand-thrown on the island of Aegina, the scarves, fans, and parasols from Greek Angels of Crete, the candles from Choe, and the small olive-wood sculptures from Sonata Gallery, carved by the artist Roumanas.
An alley threads beneath a pergola laced with bougainvillea, leading down toward the Aegean. Here, The Danai feels less like a resort than a private, painterly village. Lavender lines the way towards its centre, which, like a village square, is built around a fountain. It smells of fresh bread and coffee from The Bakery House, and cool air escapes from the wine cellar, home to the largest collection in Greece. Someone is returning a book to the library. Already along this idyllic alley stands a boutique carrying men’s, women’s, and children’s fashion, alongside a small shop for everyday essentials, toys and reading material. On this same alley, the two new names now take their place: Vent d’Été, French for summer breeze, and Côte Crystal, evoking a coast of crystal.
Kimon Riefenstahl, Owner and Managing Director, The Danai: “We wanted to offer a variation to the brands that are already known internationally. Our vision was to present our guests with a curated collection of purely Greek designers, unique finds.”
The same eye for the singular piece runs through the resort itself. Each suite and villa at The Danai is its own composition of unique pieces, antiques beside veined marble, a hand-carved Peruvian chair, outdoor art prints turning a walk through the grounds into an open-air exhibition, materials sourced for their rarity rather than their convenience, all chosen personally by founder Mrs. Danai Riefenstahl. It is this that has made The Danai a special destination for fifty years.
Côte Crystal
The Jewellery store, Côte Crystal, is a study in marble and mirror, deep green stone lining the walls beneath a capiz shell chandelier suspended above a central table, lit from within. Mirrored, black-framed vitrines run along the room, pieces resting against marble-backed shelves. Toward the back, a row of gold-toned, ring-handled doors set into black marble marks the watch department, closer to a vault than a shop floor. Kimon Riefenstahl visited all designers personally. Ileana Makri’s pieces run through rings, pendants, and cuffs, each built around a symbol: a protective charm, a motif drawn from something ancient, cut into gold and set with carefully sourced stones, handcrafted in small batches by artisans in Greece, no two runs repeat exactly. Guests are always drawn to Lito: the “Tu es partout” collection, an eye motif in bright enamel, unmistakably Greek, is one of the most popular items in Côte Crystal. Her designs span from unmistakably Greek to scarab motifs, or an eighteen-karat gold masterpiece. Sergakis, whose work in diamond and sapphire leans toward something quieter and more delicate. Across all three, it is pieces set with colourful gemstones, in topaz, amethyst, and beyond, that remain most sought after.
