Thomai is the Course Leader for BA (Hons) Fashion Marketing. She is responsible for the planning, development, monitoring and delivery of the modules across all levels. Through her leading and teaching, she seeks to create a continuous learning environment that celebrates every student’s individuality, creativity and skills.

Thomai was born and raised in Athens, Greece. She obtained her Bachelor of Science in Accounting and Finance from Athens University of Economics and Business. However, her passion for fashion led her to study a Master of Science in International Fashion Marketing at Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh, Scotland. To get a deeper understanding of the industry she has also taken classes in Fashion Illustration and Fashion Styling at Istituto di Moda Burgo and Fashion Journalism at London College of Fashion.

She has worked for Edinburgh Online Fashion Week and Misuma, a sustainable fashion brand. Before joining Leeds Arts University, Thomai taught at Universidad de Monterrey in Mexico and at University of Edinburgh. In Spring 2017, she was a guest lecturer at Lahti University of Applied Sciences in Finland.

She has led collaborative projects with Fashion Institute of Technology in NY, USA and Chanapatana International Design Institute in Bangkok, Thailand. She has also given talks and led workshops at MARCO, Museum of Contemporary Art in Monterrey, Mexico.

Thomai currently oversees collaborative projects between LAU and UDEM and is responsible for organising live briefs, industry talks and visits in order to bring the students closer to the reality of working in the fashion branding with communication field.

She has a particular interest in digital communication, visual merchandising and diversity and inclusivity in the fashion industry. She loves to write about and share her personal style through the Instagram account @thomaistyle.

Articles

Papathanasiou, T. (2019) ‘Window displays as vehicles of social commentary: The case of Harvey Nichols’, Bloomsbury Fashion Business Cases [online].

Papathanasiou, T. (2020) ‘Hashtags and Content: Creating a Social Media strategy for an emerging brand’, Bloomsbury Fashion Business Cases [online].

Book Sections

Papathanasiou, T. and Perlatti, A. (2018) ‘Textile traditions and fashion education in Mexico’, In: N. Nimkulrat, U. Raebild and A. Piper, eds., Soft Landing. Aalto University School of Arts, Design and Architecture, pp. 25-33.

Conferences

Snare, E, Perez, A, Papathanasiou, T. and Harrison, D. (2021), Problem-based learning as ethical enquiry in fashion branding and communication education, Global Fashion Conference, Workshop.

Papathanasiou, T. (2022), Representation and Inclusivity in British Vogue, Futurescan 5, Short paper presentation.

Papathanasiou. T. and Snare, E. (2022), A learning game to navigate the challenges in fashion branding and communication education, Futurescan 5, Poster.