Vogue Greece celebrated the 5 year anniversary with a sensational cover

In the luminous realm of fashion journalism, few moments come as laden with anticipation and reflective significance as the anniversary celebrations of a leading magazines. As Vogue Greece commemorates its five-year journey through the ever-evolving landscape of fashion, style, and culture, we sit down with the esteemed Editor-in-Chief Thaleia Karafyllidou to delve into the milestones, the challenges overcome, and the innovative pathways charted by the magazine in redefining modern Greek aesthetics and global fashion narratives.
This celebratory mark is not just about the passage of time but a testament to Vogue Greece’s commitment to excellence, creativity, and the relentless pursuit of pushing boundaries. The pinnacle of this commemoration is symbolized by their latest cover, featuring none other than the iconic Naomi Campbell, whose career has been as transformative as it has been meteoric. This cover is not merely a visual feast but a narrative rich with history, resilience, and the breaking of molds, much like the magazine itself.
As we engage in a conversation with Thaleia Karafyllidou we uncover the layers of thought, the moments of audacity, and the continuous journey of inspiration that have led Vogue Greece to this momentous anniversary.

How does it feel, to experience that worldwide success?

Vogue Greece relaunched in 2019 in a very uncertain period for the country. Greece had just exited the bailouts, the Greek economy was fragile and people were very skeptical of the launch of a luxury magazine such as Vogue. Greek Vogue became the first Vogue to become a supplement in the most prestigious and famous newspaper in Greece, Kathimerini, a very successful business model. In these 5 years, our amazing team led by their passion wanted to establish the magazine both in the country and abroad so we worked very hard towards this direction. Our covers were graced by the most iconic models, from Bella Hadid and Carla Bruni to Irina Shayk and Naomi, and the most famous personalities from Victoria Beckham and Luca Guadagnino to Jessica Chastain and Lily Collins. Oscar nominee Yorgos Lanthimos, Palm D’Or winner Vasilis Kekatos, and world-famous choreographer Dimitris Papaioannou have created the most beautiful cover stories for us. We were the first Vogue to produce a total un-retouched issue to celebrate body positivity and the first European Vogue to have a solo male cover featuring Jared Leto. I’m personally extremely proud of our Change Makers events, two large-scale events with an attendance of 5000 people in total and Guests of Honour Anna Wintour, Christian Louboutin, Olivier Rousteing, Jean Paul Gaultier and Sarah Rafferty. This year for the second time Marketing Week named Vogue as the best magazine in Greece. We are so happy that our work is being recognized by the international media and the fashion world and we hope to continue this way.

The fifth year is marked with an impressive cover, it leaves you breathless. Naomi Campbell in front of Nick Knight’s lens is shown quite differently than we are used to. What is the creative story behind the cover?

Ever since we launched Vogue in Greece my dream cover was Naomi by Nick Knight, since even though these two have worked multiple times together and created some of the most iconic images they have never done a cover for Vogue and they did that for our 5th anniversary cover. I cannot thank them enough for making my dream a reality.

You called this edition a collector’s backstage edition. Can you explain to us in more detail what it is about?

Our issues are thematic so we decided that the issue will be dedicated to backstage. What is happening behind the magical world of photoshoots? We wanted also to celebrate the wonderful people working for the magazine and all the editorials. After all, magazines are their people.

Which talented people are you celebrating your 5th anniversary with? Who did you invite to the edition and what will they tell us?

We invited 30 Greek personalities from different worlds, from theater, to music and from journalism to fashion designers. A few names, Christopher Papakaliatis, the director of Netflix hit series Maestro in Blue, Efthimis Philippou, a close collaborator of Yorgos Lanthimos, one of the most important screenwriters (Dogtooth, Kinds of Kindness, etc), Sia Kossioni, anchorwoman of the biggest TV station in Greece and the biggest names in music scene, Haris Alexiou, Anna Vissi and Eleni Foureira.

From your beginning until today, you are also a witness of time; from art, fashion, popular culture, and society. How much has Vogue Greece changed since then, and where does it insist on continuity?

Vogue Greece like any other magazine is a living creature, it grows, evolves, and always is trying to answer the same question: why now? We need to be relevant to our readers, to our market, and the global fashion world. We respect so much our audience and we want to give them the best content. It’s a long process but we love our job so much.

The week started with Greek Independence Day and ended with the edition on newsstands, which you could call this week – Greek Week. We congratulate you on Greek Week, and yout success, and we hope that you will celebrate it in style, maybe you could reveal to us the recipe for a real Mediterranean, Greek celebration – we think there should be more of it!

On a Cycladic island next to the sea, with the famous Greek sunlight, the smell of wild figs, the music of Hatzidakis, and fresh tomatoes with oregano and feta cheese.