The problem with meeting MS Crown is that when she walks in the room you immediately go “OK, the model’s here. Where’s the designer?” And then you realize that the stunning Amazonian standing in front of you clutching a dozen silk dresses is Ms.Crown herself AKA Stephania Ayiotou, the designer. I meet Steffi for breakfast to discuss her new collection and her recent stint at the VIP gift suite at the Luxe Rodeo for the Golden Globe nominees. We grab cappuccino's and eggs while we talk.

"Let’s address your genes first. Where do you get your stunning looks and do you have any sisters?"

Steffi laughs. Great teeth. Lots of cascading hair. "Yes, I do have sisters. Eighteen year old twins. My father is Greek Cypriot with a suspicious dash of Sicilian and my mother is Colombian. I spent my childhood between Colombia and Cyprus. Both of my parents are free spirits and I had a very unconventional upbringing. I went to eight different schools by the time I was sixteen.

"So did you leave school knowing what you wanted to do or not?"

"Yes, I really wanted to act but my father thought it was bull. He was totally against it. I started off with a bachelor of social sciences at Goldsmiths in London and left after a year.

"Why did you leave?"

"I got accepted at Lee Strasberg where I had secretly auditioned and moved to NY despite my dad's wishes. He cut me off for two years after that."

"He cut you off? So how did you survive as a struggling drama student in NY?"

"My Greek Auntie Bia in Astoria! She's awesome, she's so tough. She fed me gemista and taught me to bake kourabiedes."

"Ok, you survived and then what?"

"I did two years at Lee Strasberg and then went on to act in my first film..... shot in Montreal. After that I went back to Cyprus to spend time with family and while I was there my good friend Donatella Felice called and said that if I wanted to see her I had two days to write a script so her management team would let her come to Cyprus. So we made a job of it. I had a friend with a camera, my cast of talented friends and a van. We made the movie, edited it, composed the music and it got accepted as a short that year (2011) in Cannes."

"So up to now you've been pretty successful at following your dream, despite your father. How did that segue into designing dresses for the Hollywood A list?"

"Dimitris. My ex boyfriend. He broke my heart and I got sick so I sat in my bed in Nicosia and recuperated by drawing sketches. I found myself repeatedly drawing beautiful dresses. When I felt better I got up and had one made. I wore it to a party and Panayiotis Neocleous, the owner of Ammos, a bar/restaurant by the sea in Larnaca saw me in it. Basically he loved the dress and asked me to design a summer collection for a fashion show at Ammos in May."

"Just like that, he said , "do me a collection.""

"Yes, more or less. I had no idea if I could pull it off. To be honest, at the start I was a little lost. I went all over Cyprus looking at fabrics and was uninspired by what I found. It was my mother who urged me to contact Angela Hooker, a textile print designer I knew in London. I sat up one night and collected all my inspirational material and sent it to Angela. Lava fields and deep ocean creatures. I was interested in the juxtaposition between earth and ocean surfaces. When Angela sent me her ides I really got excited because we had an immediate artistic connection and it suddenly became an creative collaboration, like an art piece. I had the fabrics and i could see how to make them move and the rest was easy."

"So the first collection was launched in May 2011. What brought you to the VIP lounge for the Golden Globes less than a year later?"

"After the first collection premiered I took my short film to Cannes and it was there that I met Natalie Dubois Sissoko, the founder of the DPA Celebrity Gifting Lounge which invites the stars to sample luxury goods from around the world. So I ended up bringing my second collection."

"Who came by the lounge and got to sample your designs?"

http://www.zimbio.com/pictures/1Vl0j5mGf_r/2012+DPA+Golden+Globe+Awards+Gift+Suite/518-QIc72mt

"Oh, Missy Pyle, Berenice Bejo, Sebastian Roches, CCH Pounder, Elizabeth McGovern, Mary Mouser, Rotini Akinosho, Sarah Burns and many others. It was a whirlwind. Lindsay Bronson, Nadia Bronson's daughter wore my Gothic Princess dress to the Globe Parties and I met her in my Reptilian Cave Dress.

"So what's next?"

"A short fashion film showcasing my latest gown. I am looking for some amazing landscape to shoot against which to shoot the Black Lava Reaper Gown. Watch this space!"


http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=t.100002336364688&type=1



http://www.stephaniaayiotou.com/





http://www.stefficrown.com/