From Greece to Germany to Crete, Maria Hadzi Bei has travelled a long, but fashionable, road to achieve her goal as one of Hersonissos' most prominent fashion consultants and retailers.   

Maria, with family roots in Northern Greece's Komotini, was born and raised in the Lake Konstantza region of Germany. At the conclusion of her studies in commerce, Maria was employed by a top German clothing shop, in charge of the designer clothing department, a job she held until age 24. At the same time, she attended seminars in sales, product presentation, merchandising, colour technology and customer psychology.

"I received a wealth of education about the fashion business and sales, and the bottom line is always customer satisfaction" she said.  

Along the way, Maria was gathering experience the way a miser gathers gold. She even did a stint as the stylist for a film short, which was presented at the Berlin Film Festival.

Later, wanting to find her roots, she travelled to Komotini, where she began working together with a noted interior designer, with branch shops in Athens, dealing with custom made furniture, antiques and works of art, which were supplied to fashion houses, architects and entertainment personalities.  Maria also found time to work as a stylist in fashion shows, working with Greece's top models.

The summer of 2005 Maria came to visit some friends in Hersonissos, where a lightning bolt struck; she met her future husband, Panayiotis, and the wandering spirit decided to stay, and put her years of experience in the women's market to work for her.

In 2007 she began with Mad Accessories, located on Hersonissos' main street, offering women's accessories, such as bags, belts, scarves, etc., as well as hand-made jewellery by noted Greek designers. 

"I'm proud of the selection we offer, and of the fact that it is always current, according to today's market," she explained. "Certainly, the collection is renewed at regular intervals as I try to be up with the market trends and the pulse of the people, while keeping prices particularly accessible. I like to think that we offer Iraklion quality and selection, cut with a local price tag."

Maria, apart from her life in fashion, is also the mother of a three-year-old boy, Michalis, and, when relaxing, loves to meet with friends, read a good book or watch a nice film. 

"I have travelled to London, Amsterdam, Istanbul, Italy, France and Spain," she recalled, "because different cultures excite and inspire me. That's one of the reasons I chose Hersonissos to settle in…it's a multi-national community, even more so in the summer!"