Soul Traits is a screen printing and creative studio based in Patras, Greece, founded by Vagg Angelopoulos. The studio began back in 2017, when Vagg started publishing an independent collective art magazine that focused on showcasing work by artists from all over the globe covering the fields of illustration, photography, collage, comics, and inventive writing. In its printed pages, the mag featured an eclectic range of international creators, both established and emerging. The theme of each issue was defined by an initial project; a starting point for creating that took the contributing artists into different experimental and exploratory directions.

The release of the publication, distributed in selected bookstores and galleries around Europe, led to the organisation of events and festivals featuring the participating artists. For example, exhibitions of the artists took place at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and at Soundtrope Festival in Ioannina, Greece. 13 international artists and 45 artworks in total were included, alongside workshops in illustration (lead by Andreas Angelopoulos) and typographic letterpress printing (lead by Tipografio) at the Soul Traits Festival in 2017.

Vagg soon started screen printing the merchandise for the zines and events after watching the whole process from beginning to end during his trip to Edinburgh. He immediately fell in love with the art of screen printing, and upon his return to Greece, he launched Soul Traits studio.

Today, Soul Traits specialise in printing on fabric, but are open to working with a variety of media and collaborative projects. Their processes are entirely manual and eco-friendly, and all of their t-shirts hand printed in limited quantities using water-based inks. “We emphasise people over product. Our main goal is to bring cultures and communities together – it’s not about clothes, it is about stories and relationships” says Vagg. Hence, much of the brand narrative is told through collaborations, with artists including Lola Dupre, Twee Muizen, Cristian Toro, Alessandro Ripane and more.