Marlon Tate

Initially owned by industrialist and famed contemporary art collector Dakis Ioannou, The Twenty One is a boutique hotel located in the beautiful and upscale suburb of Kifisia in Athens, Greece. In 2021, the Hotel changed hands and passed on to the brilliant minds behind the luxury brand Moda Bagno who forged a new and exciting direction for the Hotel but also faced an important challenge; how to compete with boutique hotels located in Athens’ historic centre when the Twenty One’s Kifisia location offered no direct links to culture.

In late 2022, Marlon Tate was invited to design and art direct the Hotel’s new brand identity, marketing collateral and wayfinding, as well as a new brand narrative, that would relaunch the Hotel. Our idea was simple: Culture exists when luxury is integrated. The Hotel features 21 rooms with beautiful furniture, extraordinary amenities and a famed restaurant that for years, has been a dining spot for successful individuals.

The new brand narrative reflected our strategic ambition to position the Twenty One as an Institution; a cultural attraction itself. The branding is anchored around our tagline ‘luxury is your culture’ and draws upon 1960s conceptual art and concrete poetry. We wrote and directed 21 welcome videos referencing video art installations and designed a signage system echoing environmental graphics that can be found inside international contemporary art galleries rather than boutique hotels in Athens’ historic centre.