The Contemporary Art Museum of Crete in Rethymno presents the exhibition WHAT YOU WEAR IS WHAT YOU ARE, running from 17 May to 31 October 2025, featuring works by Greek and international artists.

An integral part of the exhibition is a special homage to the late Sophia Kokosalaki, the celebrated fashion designer from Rethymno whose international impact left an enduring mark—yet whose life was sadly cut short.

With WHAT YOU WEAR IS WHAT YOU ARE, curators Maria Maragkou, Maria Panagides, and Stavros Kavallaris seek to illuminate the reciprocal relationship between fashion and the challenges of our time, as these are expressed and shaped by contemporary art and its forward-thinking explorations.

Since antiquity, clothing has served both practical needs and social function, clearly defining one’s place within society. Over time, it has evolved into a key marker of identity. In this light, fashion becomes an inseparable part of everyday life—guiding influence, behaviour, and social status.

Contemporary art, meanwhile, carves into what is stagnant, outdated, or overly serious, infusing it with the strange yet accessible—an interplay of materials and topical concerns that together compose a renewed sense of “authenticity” in 21st-century fashion. Here, the underground becomes a symbol of a new modernité, a new camp sensibility, and luxury is no longer by definition elitist.

The exhibition features works by 29 artists and designers | Eleonora Antoniadou, Dimitrios Antonitsis, Eugenia Apostolou, Vanessa Beecroft, BlindAdam, Adonis Volanakis, Hussein Chalayan, Dimitris Davis, Christos Delidimos, Stamatis Zannos, Bill Georgoussis, René Habermacher, Rebecca Horn, Travis Hutchison, Anestis Ioannou, Lefteris Kanakakis, Yael Kanarek, Kapurani Bros, Sophia Kokosalaki, Elli Komninou-Nenedaki, Sophia Kosmaoglou, Yannis Bournias, Alice Palaska, Aggelos Papadimitriou, Maria Papadimitriou, Christiana Soulou, Efi Spyrou, Versaweiss and Nikos Charalambidis.

The works in the exhibition are drawn from museum collections, private collections, and the artists themselves.

The exhibition is supported by NEON through its annual Grants Programme.