Maryam Rezaei
Chrissoula Manolakaki
Panos Chreppas
Stamatis Tsagias
Asimeni TountaChristina Pistofidou
Today a lovely young woman brought tears to my eyes… she inspired me… she reminded me of what passion means… the driving factor in every cell of your body, believing in your dream! And believing in your dream and fighting for it despite the closed doors… despite how many times you fall… despite the wrong paths you will follow going after your dream… despite the wrong people giving you false hope… despite… despite… despite! Christina Pistofidou is a fighter, a woman of extreme drive, a 26year old designer and entrepreneur who despite all the barriers, has a wonderful and genuine smile!
Christina got accepted in her dream University of Edinburgh and started her foundation coarse in Fine Arts. After a year though, she realized that textiles and costume design was what she really loved and decided to apply there instead. But she was faced with an almost closed door, as faculty there tried to talk her out of it, telling her that only the very best would get accepted due to the very high demand! But little did they know about Christina’s determination… And yes, she didn’t just get accepted but was awarded too! In her third year and having found the world of startups and investors, Christina started to think about starting her own fashion line and with research she came across “sarong “, a large tube or length of fabric, often wrapped around the waist in the Eastern Asian countries. But specifically, in some villages in Indonesia these cloths are also worn in the evening as a form of shawl and it has a protective meaning which in Indonesian is called, Wéngko Molé. She was inspired by this and decided to name her brand and fashion line, Wéngko Molé. Her talent in making beautiful and unique digital prints, transformed the simple clothing into a truly work of art! But finding your brand identity and line of clothing is only half the story, if not less! As surviving in an extremely difficult, competitive and over populated with a huge number of brands and designers, especially in the first years is another story!
Christina Pistofidou has survived more than three disappointing partnerships, with huge psychologic and economic setbacks… a large amount of misleading and unworthy collaborations, leaving her hanging last minute and merchandise with flaws… a great number of people and companies letting her down the last minute! How many people would have survived and wouldn’t have abandoned their dream, believing that “it just wasn’t meant to be”…? I know I surly have! So, after a fair share of disappointing collaborations with factories in Bulgaria and India (and believe me I am not really painting the right painful and difficult picture…), She found a factory in Drama, north Greece, where she could communicate in her language and people she could trust! Today, 3 years from the day she started Wéngko Molé, faced with incredible setbacks, she has managed not just to overcome them but she has two showrooms in the UK and Greece and is going headstrong opening new markets for her beautiful and authentic line of clothing!
http://www.wengkomole.comThere are always going to be tough days… days that you will say ‘NO MORE’… on those days go for a long walk and you will find the courage to push forward again pursuing your dream!
