There will always be t-shirt collectors and fans always looking for something fresh, exciting and new.

Enter T-Greeks; a souvenir manufacturing company, that specializes in traditional prints with a twist, portraying the bright and positive side of Greece.

The printed t-shirts are designed by two Brazilians, Rafaela de Moura Torres and Jacqueline Rosemberg de Moura – who  also print their logo on bags and sarongs – and can be worn on trips, to lounge in the sun, at the gym and to say something about  yourself.

Designs include men, women and children, red and blue tsarouchi (traditional shoes), colorful mousaka, illustrated dance moves (opa). Every t-shirt tells a story. How do we say “Yia mas” in Brazil? Cheers or maybe chin chin?

What are the ingredients of the original Greek t-shirt? 

 Our recipe is actually quite simple: some white, a pinch of blue, a ray of sun and a lot of love.

Why did  two Brazilians, who were not born in Greece, design a Greek product? 

Greece is a magical place. Its nature, history, culture, landscapes, cuisine are only a few of the things that makes one fall in love with this country. Besides, we don’t believe in birthplaces. Home is wherever your heart is and our heart is in Greece.

Any similarities between the two countries? 

Brazil is a very colorful country, a lively place with happy and generous people and so is Greece. If you ask a Greek, they will always say they like Brazilians and vice versa. 

Your prints make references to summer in Greece and have texts like “From Greece with love,” “Oh Athena Goddess of Wisdom,” “Yia Mas. What  message are you trying to convey?

When we started the company, we wanted to create a souvenir brand different from any other. That’s why we focus on things that depict the bright side of Greece. That might be a commonly found sea creature, like the sea urchin or a theme from ancient Greek mythology. We want our prints to reproduce the feelings, the images and even the smell that one will experience while in Greece. 

Why did you choose to export t-shirts from your home country?

With so many people coming every year to spend their holidays here, we thought they should be able to find nice things to take back home. The souvenir market most of the times is very limited. We want to make a difference, offering something original, produced in Greece and reflecting its beauties in a humorous way. We design for anyone wanting to take a little piece of Greece back home. 

Cult, folklore. How loud do you wish to be?

The louder the better! We want not only visitors but also local residents to wear our t-shirts, carry our bags and slip on our sarongs. Why not wear a garment reflecting the best side of our country? 

What is the coolest souvenir one must buy, when leaving Greece, apart from your t-shirts? 

Some feta and some virgin olive oil are always a safe bet.

What does it mean to design and create a product in Greece? 

It certainly translates into investing time in it and being passionate about it. Greece needs, now more than ever, new ideas and we believe we are contributing towards this direction. 

Can you share some symbols and their stories and how you wish to narrate them? 

We are always searching for symbols that are 100% Greek, timeless and intriguing for someone that wants a souvenir from our country. Fortunately, Greece offers us countless stories that can be put on our white t-shirts. We choose the ones we find more fun for each collection, but we try to redesign them and present them in a new, modern way. So, if you look closely, none of these famous symbols are exactly as we know them. Each time we finish a collection, we are obliged to leave a lot of symbols behind, and it is a sad moment as, through the creative process, we have come to love them. But we keep them in our files, to use them later. So, stay tuned to see many more coming back to life.

If you were to design a t-shirt, for Brazil and Greece, what would the print be like?

We had never thought about it before! That would be an exciting project! What about a nice sketch of our planet with an arrow linking the two countries, made of tiny symbols that represent Brazil from one side and Greece from the other?