26/06/2024
𝐓𝐨𝐮𝐊𝐢𝐭𝐬𝐨𝐮: 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐆𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐤 𝐅𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐧'𝐬 𝐇𝐚𝐭𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐂𝐡𝐢𝐚𝐫𝐚 𝐅𝐞𝐫𝐫𝐚𝐠𝐧𝐢 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐀𝐧𝐧𝐚 𝐃𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐨 𝐑𝐮𝐬𝐬𝐨 𝐰𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐝𝐥𝐲
Manolis Manousakis entered as a guest star in her space fashions, when in 2017, he left finance to create a self-respecting Greek navy hat. The course of his brand with Greek Fisherman's hats proves that sometimes creative stories become successful.
Starting from Thessaloniki, he created an authentic Greek product that was featured on the biggest magazine covers in the world, while at the same time, it has been worn by style icons such as Anna Dello Russo.
"TOUKITSOU" designs follow traditional construction and craftsmanship, remaining bold, inspired, and exuberant, without stopping you at the classic starting point of their creation.
Manolis Manousakis spoke to Bovary about taking a seemingly forgotten item of Greek tradition and bringing it to the top of world fashion.
𝐇𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞, 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐜𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐟𝐚𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐮𝐧𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐝𝐥𝐲. 𝐒𝐨 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐝𝐢𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐚 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐚 𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐛𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭?
The reason was initially my love for this particular hat and the difficulty I was facing in buying a quality Greek Fisherman's Hat in Greece, i.e. the country where it was born. So I decided to start TouKitsou, initially designing 15 hats, more to see what the public reception would be. Ultimately, the reactions and comments I received were indeed very positive and so soon the plans multiplied.
𝐓𝐨𝐮𝐊𝐢𝐭𝐬𝐨𝐮 𝐡𝐚𝐭𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐞𝐝 𝐞𝐱𝐜𝐥𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐢𝐧 𝐆𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐜𝐞, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐚 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐫. 𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐝𝐢𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐝𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐥𝐚𝐮𝐧𝐜𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐆𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐤 𝐅𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐧'𝐬 𝐡𝐚𝐭?
Doing market research abroad I found that only Greeks did not sell Greek Fishermans hats. This gave me a serious advantage over the competition, as the design is purely of Greek origin. It's also a timeless design that goes with many outfits and can be worn on a variety of occasions, from a walk in the park to formal, glamorous looks. Anna Dello Russo, for example, wore our same hat on the Italian X-Factor, and in a photoshoot with the auction house Christie's, but also while walking her dog.
𝐈𝐬 𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚 𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐞𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐮𝐜𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬?
I think it makes things a lot easier, as the competition is very high in the space and there are plenty of options for all pockets. On the other hand, however, this environment leads people to look more and more for new designs, creative and with personality. So in that sense, there is room for more niches, with groups of people who have a specific aesthetic, who are looking for products at the right price and quality.
𝐖𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧 𝐢𝐧 𝐆𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐜𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐛𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐲 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐟𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐚𝐫 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐰𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐚𝐭𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐬, 𝐡𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫, 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐮𝐥𝐚𝐫 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐧 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐚 𝐟𝐚𝐯𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐬𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐬. 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐆𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐤 𝐩𝐮𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐜?
Not only in Greece but also abroad, women stopped wearing hats mainly in the 1970s. However, some love them and don't have just one. Especially in this particular type of hat, many of our customers have 3-4 different designs. The same is the case with Greek women, and this is one of the reasons why we want to constantly update our collection.
𝐖𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐬𝐚𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐤𝐞𝐭𝐬 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭, 𝐛𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐆𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐜𝐞 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐠𝐨𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐞𝐥𝐥. 𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐝𝐢𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐥𝐚𝐮𝐧𝐜𝐡 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭? 𝐓𝐨 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐞𝐱𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐝𝐢𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐆𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐤 𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐩 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐤𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬?
TouKitsou could be described as a social media brand, as from there we started uploading our first designs and that's where we were discovered and then these great collaborations were born, until today. Now for the initial launch, perhaps the diversity that we chose to have in our content and not move on the beaten track helped. Using new fabrics, patterns and colors in our hats, we managed to think more unconventionally, in terms of photography, but also the general image of the brand. Perhaps, that's what set us apart.
𝐖𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐬𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐡𝐚𝐭𝐬 𝐨𝐧 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞𝐢𝐠𝐧 𝐜𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐛𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐬. 𝐆𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐮𝐬 𝐚 𝐭𝐨𝐩 𝟓 𝐨𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐟𝐚𝐯𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬.
Although in recent years TouKitsou hats have been worn by several celebrities and it is a difficult answer, I think the top 5 are: Anna Dello Russo, Miley Cyrus, Mrs. Hilfiger, Chiara Ferragni, and Adriana Lima.
𝐂𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐞𝐥𝐬𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐰𝐞 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐓𝐨𝐮𝐊𝐢𝐭𝐬𝐨𝐮? 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐥𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐲 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐬𝐮𝐜𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐟𝐮𝐥 𝐜𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐩𝐮𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐨𝐩 𝐟𝐚𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐦𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐳𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬. 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭'𝐬 𝐧𝐞𝐱𝐭?
One of TouKitsou's goals is to be able to constantly innovate and present new ideas, which will communicate the philosophy that combines "modern" with tradition. In the context of social responsibility as a brand, we will soon present a new upcycling venture, where we will turn an old favorite garment into a beautiful hat.
More specifically, we will allow the public to turn any old denim pants into a hat. Also, soon we plan to organize a series of seminars/workshops in major Greek cities, for established brands, but also for those who want to start their brand. Of course, the presentation of our summer collection with fresh colors and fabrics will not be missing.
