Where do Athenians spend their time? Where do they unwind, meet friends, or enjoy their daily coffee? Where does work end and the city begin? In the new column “Meet the Athenians”, we talk to the people of Athens about the places and moments that make them love the city they call home.
In this interview, Dimitra Villiou, Founder and Creative Director at Hearts & Wires studio and Head of Communications at Progressive Lab, talks with TO BHMA International edition.
1) How does your work interconnect with the city and its people?
My professional life is split between the studio and the world of ideas. And both inevitably run through Athens.
With Hearts & Wires Studio, the city is my primary tool: our clothes begin their day on my morning rounds through fabric shops, arcades, and tiny stores in the center, where I hunt for textiles, lace and materials. A little later, those same pieces take shape in the evening, worn by Athenian women heading out for drinks, dates, or a night-time stroll. I love the thought that the city is, quite literally, being written onto our clothes.
At the same time, through the Progressive Lab—a think tank that produces ideas, research, and policy proposals—I deal with another side of the city: how its people live, claim space and are represented. There, Athens is not just a backdrop; it’s a case study and a field. Its inequalities, its public space, the daily friction with institutions. In that sense, from corsets to public policy, my work intersects with the city and its women on many different levels.
2) If you had only 24 hours in Athens, which three essential stops would be on your list?
If I only had 24 hours, as a self-confessed foodie who leaves no culinary stone unturned in the city center, the plan would inevitably revolve around food.
First stop – Breakfast on Trikoupi: I’d start at “Starata” on Charilaou Trikoupi street, with their delicious handmade country-style pies. Then a quick stop next door at Boken for the best iced latte.
As I’d walk down toward Stadiou, pie in hand, I’d pause for a moment to take in Panepistimiou—the neoclassical Trilogy of University-Academy-Library, the people. It’s one of the few spots that still remind you that, once upon a time, someone dreamed of a more “European” Athens, before the double-parked cars took over.
Second stop – Lunch in the center: For lunch, I’d head to Psyrri, to Linou Soumpasis & Sons. It’s one of those places serving contemporary Greek cuisine, with dishes that look simple but are actually crafted down to the very last detail—the kind of food that makes you think “Yes, this is what modern Greek cooking should be!”
Third stop – Dinner in Kypseli: In the evening, I’d go up to Kypseli, at Dylan’s bar, a bit further up on the Agias Zonis pedestrian street. It’s a small space, with a cozy bar and dishes that offer an elegant modern take on Greek comfort food that feels familiar but is never boring. The perfect ending, in a place with a neighborhood feel that’s also deeply urban.
3)What’s one thing you really love about Athens, and something else you wish was different?
Unfortunately, you’ve caught me at a time when I’m mostly seeing Athens from its difficult side. The traffic is now simply unimaginable: every trip feels like a small expedition, requiring strategy, patience and a Plan B. If I could change one thing, it would be exactly that: fewer cars, more space for pedestrians, and public transport that works well enough for the city not to feel like it’s punishing you just because you dared to have an appointment in another neighborhood.
Still, there is something that keeps me tied to this place: a Sunday walk through the side streets in the center to the National Garden, and then up toward Kolonaki. It’s a classic personal ritual that reminds me the city still has pockets of beauty. The neoclassical buildings, the small shops that refuse to surrender, the people out simply to walk. In those moments, Athens resembles what it could be. Not only exhausting, but deeply alive. And maybe it is that combination—contradictory as it is—that ultimately keeps me here.
