Pantelis Melissinos Sandal Workshop – an Athenian landmark for the rich, the famous & the lovers of hand made quality sandals!
THE FAMOUS SANDAL WORKSHOP
Since 1920, the ” Georgios Melissinos Sandal Workshop” as the business was known back then- has been featured in countless magazines, newspapers and TV networks, the world over, and now on the internet as well. Georgios Melissinos, the founder of the business, was a very popular and respected businessman and he also owned – besides, the now famous sandal workshop- a shoe store on Aiolou Street, which went out of business, due to the unstable economy of Greece, at the time.
HIGH STANDARDS
Georgios laid down the principles & high standards, regarding integrity, quality, innovation and customer care by which today’s MELISSINOS ART – THE POET SANDAL MAKER still operates. For this reason and for the fact that his son Stavros Melissinos caused a sensation, with his Ancient Greek Sandals, back in the day and also the fact that the current owner Pantelis Melissinos’ innovative & highly artistic designs are extremely popular, Melissinos Art – The Poet Sandal Maker –with its long history- has become an Athenian landmark.
CELEBRITIES – THEN
From the 60s through the 90s it was Stavros Melissinos and his famous Ancient Greek leather sandals that attracted Greeks, foreign visitors, European Royalty and international celebrities like, Sophia Loren, Jackie Onassis, Rudolf Nureyev, The Beatles, Melina Mercouri, Maria Callas, Barbra Streisand and Jeremy Irons.
C
ELEBRITIES – NOW
Pantelis Melissinos and his one of a kind Sandal-Atelier & Art-Gallery have become over the years a major Athenian attraction. People, from around the world, come to Athens and -after a visit to the Parthenon and the Acropolis– head for his workshop, for a pair of his bespoke leather sandals -a great souvenir from Greece.
Pantelis Melissinos has made sandals for King Felipe of Spain (at the request of his mother Queen Sophia), Salvador Dali’s alter ego, famous singer Amanda Lear, Joe Biden’s family, poet-musician: Leonard Cohen and his band and crew, Hollywood celebrities: Bob Saget, Lily Tomlin and Sarah Jessica Parker, popular British comedienne: Dawn French, comedian: Richard Ayoade, Japan’s superstar: Satomi Ishihara, Mick Jagger‘s fashion designer girlfriend L’Wren Scott and their entourage, CNN’s Richard Quest, fashion designer and TV personality: Kimora Lee Simmons, celebrity athlete and singer, prince Hubertus Von Hohenlohe, and the list goes on.
THE CELEBRITY CHAIRS!
These are four of the famous celebrity chairs, from the 1920s, which were inside the old sandal workshop. The Beatles, Jackie O, Barbra Streisand and many other famous people sat there when they tried on the Poet’s Sandals. Now, most of these chairs have been decommissioned -“honorably discharged”, like heroic veterans. These chairs have seen a lot, since 1920! Four of them have been restored and are still used, in the new workshop and gallery space, near the Acropolis Museum. The other ones are kept in the basement of Melissinos Art – The Poet Sandal Maker.
