Christiana Vardakou is a textile designer and the founder of Greece’s first natural dyeing atelier, based in Athens. Her brand is rooted in ethical craftsmanship, celebrating natural dyes, sustainability, and timeless design.
I first discovered Christiana in 2019 through a sponsored post on Instagram about one of her bundle dye workshops. It immediately caught my attention. Without thinking twice, I messaged her to sign up. The workshop took place on a quiet Sunday in her cozy apartment in Psychiko. A few students gathered in a space filled with jars of herbs, flowers, and seeds. Her large weaving loom stood in the space, surrounded by naturally dyed fabrics and materials.
She opened a flower journal she had made, with pieces of fabric dyed in different shades from various plants. It was beautiful to see how many colours nature could create!
As she walked us through the process of naturally dyeing our silk scarves, I was completely absorbed. Until then, I had only seen natural dyeing online, and I never imagined someone was practising it in Athens. I was genuinely inspired. Not just by her craft, but by how dedicated she was to learning and exploring it so deeply at such a young age.
We stayed in touch, and about a year later, as I started creating my own silver jewelry and developing Somewhere Blue, I knew I wanted to include something unique, sustainable, and, of course, Blue, in my packaging. That’s when Christiana and I collaborated on creating indigo-dyed pouches using various Shibori techniques. They turned out to be the perfect fit for Somewhere Blue, and I couldn’t have asked for a better collaboration.