From Project Runway to West End’s costumed streets, designer Savva Argyrou is no new kid on the fashion block.

Savva’s design studio is lined with slim black photo frames, revealing an enviable career bound with intricate style and bold creations. Tacking together 30 years in the fashion industry, it was only fitting that Savva’s dream to create his own self-labelled line of demi couture became a reality in 2007. Nestled on bustling Boundary Street ever since, Savva Studio’s off-the-rack designs sprawl the length of the tailor’s boutique. “I have many one-off designs that I have created throughout the years,” Savva reflects, thumbing through a lively rack of satins, silks and cotton. “They showcase my expertise, my craftsmanship and my design ability, to make these garments that are very simple, yet quirky.”

Savva’s creative passion stems from his mother’s influence, a talented sewer, and his father’s precision as a barber. Surrounded with handmade designs, artistry soon imprinted on Savva’s young imagination. “When I look back on photos, my mum has herself in an outfit that she has made, and her sister-in-law is in the same outfit, and my sister was wearing the same outfit. Mum was pretty much sewing all her life.” From embellished evening gowns to exquisite lace dresses, there is one piece that sits close to Savva’s heart. It is an impressive design that stands proud in the front window of his studio — a vivid reminder of his time on television series Project Runway in 2012. “I chose to showcase a whole collection on leather and fabrics that were all simple and showed the quirkiness in my designs.”

As Savva’s gaze shifts towards a vibrant red, embellished gown, the inspiration behind his label is clear. It is the idea to interpret tomorrow’s trends in his own unique way. “Everybody wants designers to be fashion forward, and for me fashion forward is creating things that aren’t out there at the moment; it’s thinking forward. People say that being fashion forward is creating things that are in trend now, but a true designer should be designing for the future, not just for now.”

Many years in the industry have swayed Savva; his designs not always sticking to tradition. “I was a different designer to who I am now. I thought I was a more glitz and glam, over-the-top type of designer, but in fact I’m more basic, creative and use fabrics to make the statement instead. Looking at the label now and one of the clothing designs I’ve recently done, it’s very basic. Basic not as in plain, but in structure and that it’s creative in its own right.”

Savva The Label is celebrating its 11th year stitching progressive and dynamic made-to-measure pieces, tailored to create breathtaking garb for his Savva saints. For him, it is not just about creating clothes to wear, but about transforming a silhouette. “I want to make the woman that walks in feel like a million dollars when she leaves.”

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