Spiros Halaris has designed advertising and illustrations for newspapers and magazines right up to storefronts, packaging and iPad applications. His clientele includes famous brands and stores such as Prada, Tom Ford, Salvatore Ferragamo, Harrods, Shiseido, Sephora, Marks & Spencers, Bloomingdale’s, Printemps, Aesop, RES/REI Eyewear, as well as publications such as The Sunday Times, Vanity Fair, Vogue UK, Elle and the Telegraph. He’s even ventured into the world of showbiz. He was the designer behind the logo for last year’s West End production of “Shakespeare in Love” in London. All this, and he’s only 26 years old!
Halaris currently lives in New York, but his fame has reached Greece via London, Milan and Paris thanks to his numerous collaborations. He is considered one of the most talented international illustrators on the market.
When I called him for this interview, he was in his studio in Brooklyn, preparing two editorials – for the house of BVLGARI and Japanese Vogue – and he sounded very cheerful. “First because I’m talking to someone from back home, secondly because this year’s winter in New York is incredibly sweet and thirdly because it’s the holiday season,” he said. “Aren’t those enough reasons to feel happy?”
“I took a big risk. But I was lucky, because if you leave out my personal difficulties in settling in, professionally everything went according to plan.”
New York is a city that feeds youth
The child of a rather typical Athenian middle-class family – his father was a businessman trading in wine, his mother a civil servant – Halaris grew up in Glyfada. As a child, he dreamed of becoming an astronaut, nothing less. “Of course, as the years passed, this dream grew increasingly distant. I was not a good enough student, I admit. I have, however, one advantage: I understand what are my strengths and what are my weaknesses. And I work with what I have, with my own talents.” One of these led him to study graphic design. “I didn’t wander around as a child with a pencil in my hand all the time, but yes, I liked to draw.”
After graduating, in 2010, he was faced with the harsh reality of Greece: an economic crisis and chronic unemployment. The market had stalled, most advertising companies – the ones still operating at least – had frozen their campaigns. Spyros decided to leave for England to specialize in fashion illustration at the University of the Arts in London.
In 2011 during his second year of studies came his first big gig from the organizers of London Fashion Week, designing promotional material for the Mayfair Hotel. “I’ll be honest: it’s not the sort of job that makes your phone ring off the hook with new collaboration proposals. It did, however, give me the confidence and courage to keep going, to fight. With my spirits lifted, the next year I took the plunge and settled in New York!”
“The way you tell it, it sounds incredibly easy,” I tease.
“No it was not.” he replies. “In fact I took a big risk. But I was lucky, because if you leave out my personal difficulties in settling in, professionally everything went according to plan.”
How easy was it in a city like New York for a previously unknown Greek illustrator to gain the trust of top companies? “New York is different than Europe on a cultural level, the behavior of people and the market. The city nourishes youth at all levels. It is open to new ideas, fresh attitudes. Nobody would say “he’s new, let’s not jeopardize our reputation with him.” They judge you on your work alone. That’s all that is of interest to them.”
I ask him if he has had any offers for collaborations from Greece while he’s been overseas. “Not even one! I don’t find that odd. On the one hand the crisis has reduced jobs. And on the other, potential customers are afraid that maybe I’m inaccessible or too expensive, or both. People have their reservations.” he says.
What does he miss most about Greece? “My family and friends of course, and the familiar surroundings of Athens. This is increasingly changing, as I build a new familiarity with New York, day by day. I try to go home at least once a year. And then, I’m lucky. I live in a city where even in January or February, with -10 °C and two meters of snow, I can go to go to Astoria and eat fried mullet! What more can I ask for?”
