Arriving at the Mouki Mou store in Athens at 6pm on the last weekend of May, customers grabbed a chilled glass of Greek rosé before entering the concrete-clad boutique. Founder Maria Lemos, who grew up in Greece, opened the store in the city's historic centre, Plaka, in 2023, 10 years after her Mouki Mou flagship on London's Chiltern Street. In both locations, she stocks a range of low-key clothing and home goods brands that prioritise craftsmanship with a tactile, wabi-sabi approach. The brand to watch on the night is Dosa, founded in 1983 by US-based Korean designer Christina Kim, 67. The label is known for its loose-fitting clothes made from natural, handwoven fabrics, reminiscent of workwear such as shepherd jackets, kurtas (long, loose shirts common in Pakistan), cossack tops and dashikis (boxy tops worn in West Africa), and for its no-waste production methods.
As well as showcasing clothes from Kim's latest collection, Lemos, 59, who is also founder of the London-based PR firm Rainbow Wave, commissioned Kim to design an art installation. Titled “Shades of White/Whisper of Gold,” the piece is a delicate gold-leaf curtain created in collaboration with Oaxacan paper-making cooperative El Taller Arte Papel. Each sheet is made from a laurel leaf cast from a tree outside the cooperative's workshop, inlaid with wire and hand-coloured with gold pencil and spray paint. “For me, white and gold represent Greece,” she says. “The light of Greece, and all those whitewashed villages.”
As the temperature dropped, guests climbed two flights of stairs to a U-shaped rooftop terrace, planted with verbena, oregano, jasmine, thyme, and mini pomegranate trees. Along the way, they spotted the new Dosa collection, displayed on the second floor of the store, consisting of pale cream kaftan dresses, delicate camisoles, loose pants, and shawls with orange and gold accents. Also on display were gold leaf-motif shoes by Athens-based company Ancient Greek Sandals, and 18-karat gold rings and pendants with rough-cut crystals by London-based designer Pippa Small, created specially for the collaboration. Outside, attendees could see the hilltop Acropolis, accompanied by the sounds of musicians playing Athenian and Ionian music. Cantades, Or love songs, It floated across the rooftop garden and into the night sky.
Attendees: Lemos' friends and collaborators came from all over the world: Kim, 67, came from Los Angeles, and John, 65, and Teena Rosen, 60, of the recently closed Amagansett minimalist clothing design boutique Teena the Store, came from New York. Other attendees included British actress and producer Daisy Bates, 50; The guests were Ancient Greek Sandals founder and designer Cristina Martini, 47, Italian artist Paolo Colombo, 75, interior designer Reda Athanasopoulou, 33, who designed both the store and Pagostas, a guesthouse that Lemos and her husband opened on the island of Patmos in 2022. Gregoris Kambouroglou, 61. and Tina Daskalondki, 50, Curator at the Museum of Cycladic Art in Athens.
table: Servers, dressed in uniforms from Danish bedding and pajama brand Thekla, roamed all three floors of the building, serving up big white bowls of fennel-and-phyllo pies and golden-crusted fried zucchini flowers stuffed with rice, but there were also large tables on the east side of the terrace from which guests could help themselves. Oatmeal-colored linen tablecloths by Venice-based fabric designer Chiara Stella Catana provided a backdrop for gray-and-white ceramic dishes by Danish father-and-son designer duo KH Wurtz. Hammered copper bowls with floating marigold flowers served as striking centerpieces.
food: Working with Dipnosophistirion, an Athens catering company that specializes in traditional Greek cuisine, Lemos aimed to celebrate the country's “golden and ancient past.” Philoxenia, 'Affection for the Guest' Food and drink was available on every floor, ensuring that everyone was always full. Street-style brown paper cornettes were stuffed with shelled pistachios from Aegina. “Pistachios are a very ancient food in Greece,” Lemos says. The olive bread was from Tolomero Paidi, Lemos's favorite bakery in Athens. Miniature dolmades (grape leaves stuffed with dill, parsley, spices and rice) were made on the island of Kasos. In a break from tradition, dessert consisted of bite-sized madeleines studded with poppy seeds, a bowl of cherries and apricots and candied pistachios from Aristokratikon, a 96-year-old Athenian pastry shop.
drink: Guests are greeted with a copper carafe. Magoute Rosé is a blend of 80 percent Xinomavro grapes and 20 percent rare black Moscomavro grapes grown in the rocky terrain of Siatista, Macedonia, at approximately 2,600 feet above sea level. The delicate pink wine, with aromas of red currant and strawberry, was served in traditional glass tavern tumblers, along with Lemonodasos, a lemonade made from citrus fruits from the lemon groves of Poros, a port city in the Peloponnese.
music: To kick off the evening, musicians Spiros Mandalas and Dimitris Christodoulopoulos, performing as Zante singers, took to the front steps of the establishment. They played mandolins and guitars and sang Ionian and Athenian songs. CantadesTheir lyrics evoked old Athens, describing the labyrinthine backstreets of Mooki Moo's neighborhood, its beautiful houses, flowers and women, and as guests filed inside, the duo took the music to the rooftop.
conversation: Guests, many of whom were longtime Dosa fans, spent the evening celebrating the brand's love of craftsmanship, tradition and upcycling. Others marveled at Athens' new cultural landscape, discussing the new Michael Warner Gallery store that opened earlier this month and the release of the latest issue of Nomas, an art and travel magazine by fellow guest, photographer Yannis Bournias, 52.
Tips: Dress simply when hosting. “I've thought a lot about this. “I've been wearing them ever since my husband and I opened our guesthouse on the island of Patmos,” says Lemos. “I'm always running around dealing with guests, so flats are super important.” In this case, Lemos paired black braided leather Mary Jane flats from London-based brand Le Monde Beryl with a short Khadi cotton Dosa dress and huge yellow gold cubic zirconia earrings from New York designer Judy Geib. “I don't really want to stand out more than anyone else; I'm not the center of attention, but I do want to be elegant and comfortable at the same time. When I'm hosting, I want to be ready in five minutes; my focus needs to be elsewhere.”
