PARIS — Greek luxury lifestyle brand Zeus+Dione is set for growth in the new year following a strategic investment from private equity fund Halcyon Equity Partners.
Financial terms were not disclosed. In an interview, Halcyon Equity Partners managing partner Eleni Bathianaki characterized it as “a substantial minority” stake.
Chief executive officer Dimitra Kolotoura cofounded the brand in 2013 to elevate Greek craftsmanship and preserve the cultural, artistic and artisanal heritage. Kolotoura wanted “to create something meaningful,” she told WWD. The brand takes its name from the parents of the Greek goddess Athena, and seeks to bring together ancient and modern elements at an accessible luxury price point.
With the current luxury climate battering established brands, Bathianaki believes Zeus+Dione’s strong brand identity as a Greek house is an opportunity to stand out.
“It’s a great opportunity, because essentially it gives an untapped market to brands that bring something different to the table, brands that are connected with history, with character, with craftsmanship, with sustainability, with true values,” she said.
“With the decline of the luxury industry, it is the time to invest in a more physical way,” added Kolotoura. Customers will seek out brands with roots that can tell the story of how and where an item was made, she predicted. The Zeus+Dione products are made in the country, and the “vast majority” of textiles are sourced within Greece as well, they added.
The 11-year-old brand is now designed by Marios Schwab, who joined as creative director in 2021. Schwab has relocated from London to Athens to oversee the atelier and work with the more than 80 local artisans that contribute to the line.
Kolotoura also collaborated with Dior’s Maria Grazia Chiuri for the resort 2021 collection that was shown in Greece, who used her craftsmen for some pieces.
The company has supported the reopening of closed factories in the northern part of Greece. “This has had a huge social impact,” Bathianaki said of local employment. “Consumers need to know, and we will make sure that all of this footprint and all the impact that the company has made will be communicated, because it is important.”
Zeus+Dione’s 10th anniversary runway show.
Yiorgos Kaplanidis / Courtesy Zeus+Dione
Zeus+Dione staged its first runway show last year to celebrate its 10th anniversary. “That was like a catalyst,” Kolotoura said. The well-received show spurred interest from several private equity funds before she connected with Bathianaki.
“I love the fact that she is a woman in a male-dominated world,” Kolotoura said. Bathianaki began her career at Solomon Brothers and Morgan Stanley before founding Halcyon Equity Partners in 2022.
“Our personal mission was actually to invest in the best of Greece,” she said of the fund’s mission. Halcyon is backed by the European Investment Fund, among others, and now has 190 million euros for emerging companies from any sector. The fund sets out to “identify these unique diamonds, the best of Greece across sectors, to invest in these founders and really make these companies international.”
She was a Zeus+Dione client before she first contacted Kolotoura in 2023 and added that the company has a profitable financial foundation, with corporate transparency and governance at its core, and thus is well prepared for growth.
Looks from fall 2024.
Rene Habermacher / Courtesy Zeus+Dione
The brand currently has a flagship in Athens, as well as boutiques inside two of the Four Seasons hotels in the Greek capital, and is available at 230 points of sale worldwide. Expanding the retail footprint is on the horizon.
Zeus+Dione estimates the brand will have four stores in Greece and one abroad by the second quarter of 2025. They are eyeing Paris for that first international location, as they have developed a loyal local clientele here over the years.
“Once you’re established in France, where all the major brands have been established, you feel that you have a strong seal of approval from a client’s point of view, but also from a business point of view,” Kolotoura said. “Then you are ready to go and take some other steps. Paris will give us this first international step.”
Following Paris, the brand plans to open stores in three additional new markets over the next five years.
The investment will also strengthen its omnichannel presence to tap new markets outside of Europe, targeting Asia, as well as expand its homewares and menswear lines. The company plans to add new categories, and while specifics remain under wraps, Kolotoura hinted that it could be in the hospitality space.
As part of establishing Zeus+Dione as an international brand, Bathianaki and Kolotoura want to attract international talent to Athens.
In one of the first moves with Halcyon, the brand has already hired three new executives, including a chief marketing officer and a head of merchandising, to build out their team.
Together they have big ambitions, and Bathianaki will take a strategic adviser role.
“We’re working very closely with the founders to really bring value and create this roadmap of growth that will essentially triple the size of the company in three to four years’ time,” Bathianaki said.
A look from fall 2024.
Rene Habermacher / Courtesy Zeus+Dione
