Frida (n): Frida Kahlo
Mexican painter known for her self-portraits exploring personal identity, using symbols inspired by nature and artifacts of Mexican culture and society.
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Las Vegas (n):
Capital city of Nevada, United States notorious for celebrating all things flashy, trashy and artificial outside the boundaries of good taste.
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Frida Las Vegas (n): Stavroula Adameitis
Australian artist and designer known for her textiles exploring personal obsessions, using symbolism inspired by kitsch and artifacts of Australian culture and society.
Notorious for celebrating all things flashy, trashy and artificial outside the boundaries of good taste.
PHILOSOPHY
FRIDA LAS VEGAS is wearable Pop Art with a distinctly antipodean flavour.
Every statement piece embraces the idea of clothing as a human-scale billboard for exuberant personal expression.
Simple and universally flattering shapes become a canvas for supersized graphics that take inspiration from collective memories of signs, symbols, places and faces.
Each FRIDA LAS VEGAS textile is designed with the explicit intention of making the wearer feel nothing short of fabulous.
BIOGRAPHY
Stavroula Adameitis is an Australian artist and designer known for her bright and bold textiles, neon artworks and installations working under the alias FRIDA LAS VEGAS.
Remixing nostalgia with a graphic sensibility gleaned from her memories, Stavroula celebrates icons of kitsch, popular culture and place from the 1920s to the late 1990s: a time before the Internet when stylised graphics permeated visual culture.
After cutting her aesthetic chops interning with celebrated Sex And The City stylist Patricia Field in New York City, Stavroula became inspired by digital printing techniques and has since gone on to build a cross-disciplinary career centred around digital illustration, graphic and textile design.
Collaborative partners include cultural institutions (Sydney Opera House, Art Gallery of South Australia, Powerhouse Museum, JamFactory), global brands (Adobe, Meta, Disney, Microsoft and Peter Alexander) and internationally renowned performers (Katy Perry, Sam Smith, Kate Miller-Heidke, Detox, Aquaria).
Stavroula completed a Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Media at the University of Adelaide before working professionally in the Australian animation industry. She currently works in Adelaide/Tartanya from her studio atelier (open by appointment here) and lives to time-travel through her work - taking fellow culture vultures along for the technicolour ride!
PRODUCTION ETHICS
All FRIDA LAS VEGAS garments and accessories are consciously printed and produced in Australia in small production runs.
The planet does not need any more clothes. Keeping this front of mind, every FRIDA LAS VEGAS piece is created with the intention of becoming a seasonless heirloom piece, to be worn and treasured year after year.
Knitwear is produced in partnership with Knit One Change One (KOCO). KOCO’s education and employment program upskills women working in rural India, starting a new economic cycle for each knitter who gains full-time employment and financial independence for themselves and their families.
SELECTED MEDIA
‘My Adelaide: Stavroula Adameitis (aka Frida Las Vegas) on Her Camp and Colourful Hometown Broadsheet, 2023
‘New Exuberance: Contemporary Australian Textile Design at Jam Factory’, Broadsheet, 2023
‘How Generative AI can work for everyone’, BBC, 2023
‘Frida Las Vegas Makes A Colourful First Impression’, CityMag, 2023
‘Get Inspired! A peek inside the Kitschy, Razzle-Dazzle World of Frida Las Vegas’, Frankie Magazine, 2021
‘Spruce Up Your Space With Mood-Boosting Technicolour Cushions by Frida Las Vegas’, Broadsheet, 2021
‘Frida Las Vegas’ Distinct, Bright, Bold and Brazen Designs’, Star Observer, 2020
‘Frida Las Vegas' Advice On Kicking Off Your Creative Career Is As Good As You’d Expect’, Junkee, 2017
‘26 Quirky Things Aussies Are Weirdly Proud Of’, Buzzfeed, 2017
WORKSHOPS AND PANEL DISCUSSIONs
‘Sydney Opera House BUILD’ Program Host and Workshop Facilitator, Sydney Opera House, 2022 - 2024
‘The Boring Bits’, Seminar and Workshop, Guildhouse, 2024
‘The New Exuberance: Contemporary Australian Textiles’, Artist Talk, JamFactory, 2023
‘Frida Las Vegas: Illustration and Digital Painting’ Presenting Speaker, Adobe MAX creativity conference, 2021
‘School of Surface: The Side Hustle Edition’ Presenting Speaker, Microsoft, 2021
‘Fashion And The Future Of The Planet’, Moderator, Australian Design Centre, 2021
‘Performing the Self: Fashion and Identity’, Panellist, Powerhouse Museum, 2020
‘What Is Art’, Panellist, Art Gallery of New South Wales, 2019
‘Have We Reached Peak Creativity’, Panellist, University of Technology Sydney, 2016
2023
‘The New Exuberance: Contemporary Australian Textile Design’ exhibition, JamFactory (SA) + touring across Australia 2023/2024
2022
‘Thinking Through Pink’ exhibition, Wollongong Art Gallery (NSW)
2021
‘U.N.I.T.Y’ group show, B-Side Gallery (Melb)
2020
‘The Locals’ group show, Outre Gallery (Melb)
‘Hollywood Forever’ Mardi Gras, The Imperial Erskineville (Syd)
2019
‘Smoke And Mirrors’ immersive art and dining experience, Chin Chin (Syd)
‘Troublemakers #2’ group show, Vs. Gallery (Melb)
2018
‘Eleganza Australiana’ solo show, The Imperial Erskineville (Syd)
Event Props and theming for Dollar Bin Darlings, Sydney Festival (Syd)
2017
‘The Bold & The Beautiful’ solo show, Disorder Gallery (Syd)
2015
FRIDA LAS VEGAS launch showcase, Outre Gallery (Syd)