Meet Kyri The Pleater - One of London's Last Bespoke Pleaters

12th October 2021

From the very beginning of drawing up her first collection our Founder, Laura Pitharas knew she wanted to feature a tailored Kilt with a graduate pleat. A graduate pleat is the most flattering on a woman’s body particularly if you are a woman with curves as the pleat starts smaller from the waist and gradually gets bigger towards the hem of the skirt, emphasising the beauty of a woman shape.

During her research for a pleater in London she came across Rosamanda Pleaters based in a unit in Tottenham. Laura rang Kyri’s number and was greeted with a friendly hello, Kyri’s first question was are you Greek with a surname like Pitharas? Laura explained she was recently married to Alexi who is half Greek Cypriot. Turns out Kyri is also Greek Cypriot. He told Laura to come and see him and they will discuss the design.

The next day Laura visited Kyri at his unit to start the journey behind our pleated skirt. Kyri’s workspace is filled top to bottom with his life long work. He is renowned in the industry, his intricate and creative work has been featured in the biggest UK luxurious brands. He told Laura that he has over 40 years experience and is still learning every day and tries to challenge his craft by experimenting with new techniques and designs. His approach to pleat design is a rarity, he is a true artist.

Laura found Kyri fascinating and loved his enthusiasm to his craft. After searching through many of Kyri’s old patterns to find the perfect pleat they couldn’t find one that was quite right so he offered to create Laura a bespoke pattern to fit the kilt’s design.

Kyri has offered Laura much advice and has been a great friend in times of struggles during the building of the collection, always offering advice, support and trying to help her with her journey of creating the Laura Pitharas Brand.

Kyri is one of the last hand pleaters in London with most brands now outsourcing pleating outside of the UK for a cheaper cost. Laura feels honoured to have worked and met Kyri he has taught her so much about the world of pleating and she can’t wait to work with him on the spring summer collection and all her other collections.