Joseph Salachas
A young tailor in a barren island of Kyklades
In Mykonos there are always stories that have never been told. For in this island so many happened that, no matter how many words spent, they can never be enough to describe all that happened to the people living there and left their mark. Like Joseph Salachas, who from a young tailor in a barren island of Kyklades Greece, became the creator of clothes for queens, princesses and movie and art celebrities. Joseph –as even his own fellow countrymen used to call him- moved to Mykonos in 1933 when he took his degree in tailoring from the well-known school “Napolitano”. His assistant was the young Koula Veroni, with whom they fell in love, got married and had five children. Joseph began his career sewing suits and trousers for the locals and some travellers visiting Mykonos, so, when a young female tourist asked him to make a trouser for her, he created the first pattern for women’s trousers in Greece. In time he perfected it and soon he was making trousers for all the famous and celebrity ladies of Athenian society visiting the island, as well as for all the wealthy and eponymous fans of Mykonos. His personnel consisted of 20 people and was at the same place that until recently was his grandson’s business “Piccolo”.
Dior and Deses came to Greece
The fact that he spoke fluent English and French, at a time when most locals had difficulties communicating with foreign travelers, made things easier for Joseph. In the summer of 1953, Dior and Deses came to Greece and had the opportunity to visit Mykonos and stay at Leto Hotel. There, Dior noticed the trousers worn by some of the hotel’s female clients. Impressed by their quality and perfect fit, he asked his friend Eleni Chalkiopoulou, also one of Joseph’s clients, who their creator was. When he found out that it was a local tailor, he asked to meet him and to order trousers for himself, Desses, and their entourage. Joseph was immediately called, went to Leto Hotel with his measuring tape, and took their measurements. However, he explained that he didn’t have time to make the trousers due to the many other pending orders.
Dior of Mykonos
The tale begins , Joseph takes Dior's order
Fortunately the ladies that their orders preceded urged Joseph to give priority to Dior’s order and so the tale began. And then, his reputation travelled throughout the world, he was given the name “Dior of Mykonos” and the tributes in newspapers and magazines of Greece, Europe and United States (The New York Times) succeeded one another. In the years that followed, Joseph dressed with his creations personalities like Begum (wife of the Aga Khan of Persia), his son Ali Khan (whose measuring demanded two measuring tapes from Dimitris, Joseph’s son), Melina Mercouri and her mother, Eleni Vlachou, Loukas Benakis, Sevastopoulos, Nisiotis, Nantina Tsaldari , Goulandri, Lola Tsoukatou ,Anna Veltsou, Romain Gary, Takis Chorn, Prime Minister Gonatas, George Rallis and his wife Lena, Kotakis, Charpentier as well as Gue Larose and the actress Siberg.
Legacy
Today the business has passed to his grandsons Joseph and Nicolas
He died in 1977 leaving his workshop to his son Dimitri and today the business has passed to his grandsons Joseph and Nicolas. His story, the tale of the young tailor who worked with the French Haute Couture’s finest, is one that softly lightens another aspect of Mykonos. A story that unrolls nostalgically but ever so vivid by the magnificent photographic album of another era, whose overtone remains much alive to this date.