Archive Fashion To Pressed Coffee: Kafeneo The Business Fashion, The Independent, innovatively designed concept led by Costa Karageorge

Sitting on the corner of Houlditch Road in Leicester is a two-floor paradise for luxury clothing enthusiasts driven by quality and authenticity.

In September, I returned to Leicester after a long summer of leisure and exploring. This was time to move into my newly acquired property. I noticed a tall modern-looking building that automatically sparked my curiosity which read “Kafeneo by The Business Of Fashion.”

Immediately, I was drawn. As fashion has been a significant interest of mine for as long as I can remember, whether that was embarking on shopping sprees with my sisters when I was younger or now when I am developing my own unique style which reflects my personality and inspirations.

On a wet afternoon, I sat down with the founder, Costa Karageorge. We discussed the business' early inspirations and the current fashion climate we live in today.

Costa’s interest in clothing began at the young age of nine: “I started off buying one or two pieces of Reebok in the 80s,” he then continues:” From there you start realising Ralph Lauren and other American designers as well as the commercial ones in the 90s.” Fashion around this time period was driven by baggy sweatpants, elaborately coloured hair and wide shoulder pads, which have all come back in fashion now and are very popular among the younger demographic due to social media influences and the Y2K aesthetic trends.

Costa was born and raised in Leicester and honestly didn’t know anything outside of the city until he began visiting international showrooms for his business:” All my family was here, so I couldn’t picture leaving here. Paying rent also never appealed to me.” Costa decided to stay in Leicester and sell clothes after finishing school: “I knew university wasn’t for me, so I decided to sell clothes online. That’s where the money is.”

From this, he decided to open his first store in Leicester, in hopes of building up a reputable clientele with people who were forward-thinking like himself: “Being in Leicester, there is a limited amount of cool people, a handful of them around, so a lot of people are travelling from other cities to attend appointments and consultations.” Clients have been travelling from in and around the country with London, Los Angeles, and Italy just being a few.

Grinning ear-to-ear, Costas elaborated:” The regular football shirt-wearing, beer-drinking man, isn’t really my target audience, however, I do get a few in for the occasional coffee and pastry.”

Having only popped in before, I asked Costa to explain the concept of the store: “The store is split into two parts,” he says: “Kafeneo is the coffee shop part of the store as soon as you walk in. Kafeneo means Coffee shop in Greek.” The idea of splitting the store was to create a nice, chill space for the local community to gather and indulge in sweet treats alongside a clothing store The Business, which features luxury brands such as Margiela, Rick Owens, and Marni, just to name a few, which can only be viewed on an appointment based system.

Having realised the clothing store was quite minimalistic, compared to a fast fashion retailer, I asked Costa about how he sources clothing for the store and the thought process he has behind his choices:” I buy statement pieces, but my idea of statement comes from the quality of the material or the way the garment is shaped or cut.” Costa values originality and heavily considers his feelings for the brands he chooses to work with. He believes this is critical in choosing things for the store, as he only invests in brands he truly likes and wears himself. This is a rarity, as most stores just source brands to make a profit.

Thinking ahead to the future of the store, Costa is still having an online store and a physical one. However, Costa says some reinventing will be needed every few years. For example, stepping out to source new brands and getting rid of brands that don't match the status quo.