Myrsini (L) and George (S) met in the spring of 2019. We joked around and immediately after, we were hanging out all day for months. We talked about music, food, and other very intimate matters. First, we planned a party that never happened (the neon pharmacy cross got lost, the smoke machine is lying around somewhere in the living room). Then we went to Kimolos. On the boat, we agreed that we would create a space that sells natural church candles.
Then we imagined that this same place would also serve food, design album covers, books, and organize art happenings. LINOU SOUMPASIS & Co. opened two years later, in December 2021. The store sign has our names, and the identity of every service we offer carries our background and the background of people we admire, love, and collaborate with (Co.). Next to us and with us, Lukas and his team in the kitchen, Mihalis and his team in the dining hall.
Our candles are natural beeswax with a cotton wick. It is the symbol of an offering and a dedication, a home ritual, the godparent’s gift, the trace of a lovers’ date. It is the worship routine, a birthday cake’s extension, the answer to a power cut. For us, the candle reclaims the quality of a different time, a time in which matter is destroyed and at the same time burns with the bright light of life.
SIA, to us, is an abbreviation of the Greek word SYN-TROFIA (ΣΥΝΤΡΟΦΙΑ), meaning companionship. It signifies the partners of a business who are not directly mentioned in its name. The word SYN-TROFIA comes from the Greek roots SYN (together) and TREFO (to nourish), reflecting ideas of shared meals, upbringing, and togetherness.
The concept of {SIA} moves us deeply, as it is closely tied to hospitality, warmth, and the feeling of home. If you ever visit us alone, you’ll find a small candle waiting for you with the motto: Alone, but not lonely.
The office, located in our loft, seeks to collaborate and develop projects without boundaries or a specific direction. Rather, it is an open platform that invites restless professionals and amateurs alike to creative synergies—from designing a wine label to publishing a book, an LP, or even designing a kite. For us, & Co. is more a companionship than a company.
TAU cross fixture functions as protection and care ready to confront the dialectical reality in a different arena for relationships. Lifted Tau alphabet letter interconnects 17 prompted typographies of “AI Flowers & Cables” and envelops material surrounded by material. This discovery of errors and the virtue of language are possible, in perfect parallel with what takes place in art.