About

ELENA SYRAKA

Athens based designer Elena Syraka commenced her studies in fashion and jewellery design with a degree from the renowned Veloudakis School of Fashion in Athens, Greece, followed by a Diploma in Fashion and Jewellery design from ESMOD in Paris, France. During this time, Elena also won first prize in textiles at the EUROMODE TEXTILIA exhibition in Thessaloniki, Greece, in 1991. After that, she went on to study Gemology.

In the 15 years that she has been designing jewellery, Elena has come to be known for the uniqueness of the forms she creates and the use of unconventional materials. Due to their often dramatic character, Elena has regularly been called upon to create pieces for the cinema and theatre and has exhibited her work in both solo and group art exhibitions. She has also been invited to design jewellery lines for a number of renowned fashion designer’s collections as well as designs for international brands; collaborations include her “Absolut Love” handbag for Absolut Vodka’s multi-national ad campaign as well as other projects for prestigious clients such as Clinique, Levi’s, Lacoste and a number of other international brands.

Greek culture

Her successful solo exhibitions have been showcased at the Olga Georganea Gallery in Athens (1997), the Zoumpoulaki Gallery in Athens (1999) and the Museum of Cycladic Art in Greece (2007), in which the artifacts exhibited at the Museum were the inspiration for her “Idols” collection. This exhibition was in fact to prove to be a turning point in her design philosophy; motivated by this collaboration, she began to focus on her Greek heritage and began creating jewellery with a contemporary interpretation.

Her love for Greece and its culture extended into her following collections which focused on combining tradition with modern design, as seen in the “Demi-Gods” collection” inspired by the 12 mythical Gods of Olympus and the “Protect Me” collection, an assortment of evil eyes.

NOUR

From East to West

In 2012, she created the “NOUR” collection for the Benaki Museum Collection of Islamic Art in which the 45 showcased jewellery pieces, crafted out of gold and precious stones, were inspired, once again, by the artifacts exhibited at the museum. In May 2013 she exhibited the “NOUR” collection in Egypt, at the Cairo Opera House Yard’s, El Hanager Art Center and in Alexandria’s El Horreya. In March 2014, she exhibited the ‘’NOUR’’ collection in USA, New York, at ‘’Hellenis’’ in the Olympic tower, Onassis Cultural Center. In March 2016, she exhibited the ‘’NOUR’’ collection, in Qatar, Doha, at The Katara Cultural Village.

LABYRINTH

In 2018, Elena Syraka, created a new collection of artistic jewels, inspired by Ancient Greece, Minoan Crete and the Mycenaean Peloponnese and presented the exhibition “LABYRINTH”. An Exhibition, ode to the Greek civilization, with 33 exhibits – works of art.