NEW YORK – The Fashion Is Art Holiday Launch Party & Shopping Event opened on December 5 at Coco-Mat, 49 Mercer Street in SoHo. Under the auspices of the Consulate General of Greece in New York, The Elysians hosted the private holiday preview party for the press and invitation-only guests. Additionally, as part of its social responsibility mission, The Elysians will be donating 10 % of its net profits to support the Greek America Foundation’s #ChildrenOfGreece campaign.

The event features unique gift items by talented Greek designers just in time for the holiday season.

The Elysians’ first-ever creative pop-up event continues Friday, Dec. 6 through Sunday, Dec. 8. Pop-up store hours are Friday and Saturday, 11 AM-7 PM, and Sunday, 12 noon-6 PM.

Co-founders Vicki Vasilopoulos and Athina Vosinaki joined forces to form The Elysians Project, which is a gateway to the U.S. market for Hellenic creative individuals. In recent years, many young, well-educated and inspired Greek designers and entrepreneurs started to ”think outside the box,” trying to expand their business in new markets. These young cutting-edge designers and entrepreneurs with their unique designs and ideas are unveiling the New Hellenic Story.

Vasilopoulos and Vosinaki are actively seeking exceptional, hand-made, inspired designs crafted in pure materials. They genuinely want to foster an increased demand for Hellenic design products, and in doing so, bring forth a refreshing new image and creativity. They both declare that they want to deliver authentic “pieces of art” that customers will be eager to spread the word about!

TheElysians.com has launched a new multimedia platform for the U.S. market featuring exclusive, hand-made, artisanal fashion pieces, jewelry, and accessories from rising Greek designers. Starting with creative and conceptual pop-up showcase events across the USA and Canada, TheElysians.com will eventually evolve into a curated eCommerce site and international promotional platform for Hellenic creative individuals.

Vosinaki and Vasilopoulos are both documentary filmmakers specializing in arts and culture and are committed to seeking exceptional, inspired, handmade designs in pure and sustainable materials. While Vosinaki is based in Athens, Vasilopoulos is based in New York City — and was a former mens’s fashion editor at DNR (now part of Women’s Wear Daily).

Guests are invited to connect on Instagram and Facebook and to join the mailing list at www.theelysians.com to receive special offers and updates about the pop-up in Soho – and to come meet the Greek designers who are taking their creative business to the next level.

When asked what is next for the project, Vasilopoulos told The National Herald, “Regarding the pop-ups, after our New York City launch, we will continue to spread the word about The Elysians — and build a community around our brand through events in other major cities in North America, such as Chicago, Los Angeles, Miami, and Toronto. These events will be seasonal and even more creative in concept and execution. We strongly believe in the benefit of pop-up stores because they are an immersive and fun offline shopping experience which allows us to talk about our platform’s promise to our members and friends face-to-face, through an exciting and engaging physical environment. By communicating the story behind the designer labels, we can inspire customer loyalty and positive engagement.

“Our goal is to build a sustainable business over the long-term – and to give professional and consistent exposure to as many Greek designers/creators/artists, as we can!

“In stage two of the business, we will launch a full eCommerce shop with local fulfillment of online orders through our Shopify site. So follow us and stay tuned! There are a lot more creative surprises to come!”

Among those present were The Elysians co-founders, Vasilopoulos and Vosinaki, the Consulate General of Greece in New York Director of the Office of Economic and Commercial Affairs Georgios Michailidis, Maria and Taso Pardalis, Gregory Pappas, Christine Salboudis, and George Zapantis.