Takis Giannetos

A true legend in the industry of Greek handmade suits and an heir to 113 years of tradition, he has dressed important personalities from Andreas Papandreou to the leading actors of Costa Gavras, at the Venice Film Festival.

Giannetos is a Greek luxury fashion house,specialized in men’s clothing. Founded in 1907, it is now managed by the fourth generation of the Giannetos family and remains in family owner ship. Over the last century,the business gene and entrepreneurial spirit has been passed down through the generations, ensuring that the name Giannetos remains synonymous with theart of made-to-measure suits. Our promise is to create unique, tailored suits made from the finest fabrics in the world, featuring the excellent craftsmans hip that has distinguished Giannetos men’s clothes forover a century.

L.S.: What were the first steps of your fashion house? What made it different and how did it stand out? This is truly a family business and you have quite a difficult role to play given that you are the fourth generation.

T.G.: My great grandfather started his business at the city of Kalamata, in southern Peloponnese, 113 years ago. Then, my grandfather followed in his footsteps and went to Italy to study; then later on his own sons, Dimitris and Nikos, worked by his side. As for me, I represent the 4th generation in our family business. Thus, I can now confidently say that what makes a handmade suit, signed by Giannetos, to be of high value and to stand out compared to anything else in the Greek market is a combination of the following: the accumulated experience of more than 100 years; the knowledge I inherited by my parents and grandparents; my studies at Istituto Marangoni in Milan and in Germany; my expertise on making unique computerized templates; and above all my love for anything handmade, for the art of couture as well as the passion passed down to me by my family.

I come from a family business where men’s suits constitute the basis of its culture.

The unparalleled satisfaction of personalization: you can choose from among a wide collection of ultra-fine fabrics, styles, colors for the pattern or pinstripes, elegant custom- designed buttons, button holes, lapels, and linings. You can also indulge in our special collection of handmade shirts with personalized shirt collars (Couture, Button Down, French and Pointedcollars) and lettering to suit your taste, silk ties, bow ties, groom waist bands and handmade Italian shoes.

Enter the world of made-to-measure and discover the art of personal elegance like all our loyal customers: leading businessmen, artists, politicians, celebrities as well as every man with an excellent sense of style.

L.S.: Tell us about the evolution of made-to-measure within your fashion house.

T.G.: The made-to-measure is intert wined with our very tradition; we could even claim it identifies with it. Our fashion house develops this art for 113 years. Back in 1991, we the first fashion house in Greece that bought Gerber’s innovative software, and together with my father, we trained on how to use it. As you can imagine, making computerized templates was something only NASA did back then, given that the cost of acquiring such software was surreal. Then again, that option allowed us to work in a level of speed and credibility we had not even imagined. As a result, we now count more that 50,000 templates in our computers; this aspect brings us among the greater made-to-measure –bespoke fashion houses, having one of the larger template databases in Europe, for clients from all over the world.

L.S.: What type of fabrics do you normally use for the suits?

T.G.: The fabrics we normally use are mainly Italian,ranging from super 130’s to 200’s cool wool and cashmere. We work with the more important Italian houses such as, among others, Ermenegildo Zegna, Vitale Barberis Canonico, Loro Piana or Reda. However, what truly makes a difference is that all suits are equipped with a floating canvas inner panel, a unique technique used for more than 100 years.

L.S.: Tell us about your famous clients and their distinctive traits.

T.G.: Over time, Greek Prime Ministers and Presidents of the Republic have entrusted their look to us and so did several of the most well-known businessmen and artists, such as, among others: Andreas and George Papandreou, Konstantinos Karamanlis, Alexis Tsipras, Antonis Tritsis, Prokopis Pavlopoulos, the Vardinogiannis family, Dimitris Melissanidis, George Dalaras, Yiannis Parios, Stefanos Korkolis, Michael Cacoyannis, Nikos Chatzinikolaou, Antonis Sroiter, Nikos Stravelakis, Grigoris Valtinos, Lakis Lazopoulos, Georges Corraface, Alexandros Bourdoumis, Alkis Kourkoulos, Alexandros Gavras, Pyrros Dimas, Mike Zambidis, Harvey Keitel, Richard Gere, Shaun Toub, Navid Negahban. Their singularity lies precisely in their unique personalities.

L.S.: How would you describe this year’s collection?

T.G.: Our summer collection harmonizes with the current trend, emphasizing on Greek colors, sugge sting light blue blazers, coupled with white and off-white trousers and new lines. In terms of fabrics, it is cool wool, silk and cashmere .

L.S.: What shall the trend be for this particular summer?

T.G.: There is just one trend: modernization, revival, suits for private weddings with a background of the Hellenic seas or the Hellenic nature.

L.S.: What is your definition of elegance?

T.G: Elegance is something that emerges from our innerself, our behavior; it is a way of life, an attitude. We may see two people wearing the exact same outfit, but each one of them shall carry it off differently. Elegance is not a matter of price and definitely not a matter of luxury but it is a question of harmony. Elegance is something that you feel, something that you see. It establishes a balance.

L.S.: What should an elegant man have in his closet in order to be considered elegant?

T.G.: Rule No 1: a suit made-to-measure. Further more, a suit that is recently tailored, given that lines change is required. A nice sports jacket, preferably a blazer or even a small check pattern. I shall add a gray or blue morning suit with a vest. A pair of cuff links and a tie as well as a pocket square are the necessary accessories. The evening suit should always be of darker hue, combined with a white shirt.

L.S.: You recently attended the Venice Film Festival. Tell us about it.

T.G.: It was an honor for me to work with a master film maker such as Costa Gavras for his new film “Adults in the room”. I did the costumes of all leading characters, Greek and foreign, both for the movie and for the red carpet. Of course, I had the unique experience to walk the Venice Film Festival red carpet together with the leading actors, as we headed to the film premiere screening, accompanying Costa Gavras to the award ceremony. He was presented with the 2019 “Jaeger-Le Coultre Glory to the Film maker” award in the main hall of the 76th of the Venice Film Festival. The emotions were indeed unique!

L.S.: You also worked with Netflix. How did this collaboration come up and how did it actually further flourished?

T.G.: It came up after my participation at the film by Costa Gavras and the Venice Festival. The Israeli production filming the series “Tehran” in Athens, with the famous Netflix stars Shaun Toub and Navid Negahban, asked the Gavras’ stylist our contact details. So, collaboration after collaboration, we managed to form warm bonds of friendship with the leading actors.

We are steering towards international productions and collaborations, given that we are the only menswear fashion house in Greece, carrying such legacy and such potential.