Panos Emporio

Panos Emporio is a Swedish swimwear company and the current owner of the Fröken Sverige (Miss Sweden) pageant. The company is based in the west of Sweden, near Göteborg, and was founded in 1986. [Ernering, Jeanette. 2006. "Panos: lagkapten med 100 procent kontroll", "Business Region Göteborg", No. 1, pp. 12–3. [http://www.businessregion.se/download/18.8afae6210a70372e0c8000236/Business1-06_klar_pdf.pdf] ]

It was invented and is owned by Greek-born designer Panagiotis Papadopoulos, who prefers to be known as Panos.

The company found great success not only through its designs, but through finding international models and celebrities to model its swimwear. Earlier celebrities included Finnish actress Janina Frostell, "Baywatch"’s Traci Bingham, Playmate Victoria Silvstedt, "Big Brother Sweden" candidate Malin Gudmundsson and the former Eurovision-winner Elena Paparizou. One controversial choice was Swedish drag queen Rickard Engfors: [cite news |last=Yan |first=Jack |url=http://lucire.com/2004a/0130fe0.shtml |title=Love speaks volumes |publisher=Lucire |date=2004-01-30 |accessdate=2007-01-23] Panos was forced to reshoot the campaign for some markets with Greek swimmer Aleka. [cite news |last=Yan |first=Jack |url=http://lucire.com/2004a/0327fe0.shtml |title=Back from the edge |publisher=Lucire |date=2004-03-27 |accessdate=2007-01-23]

Panos’s Greek heritage often comes through in the design and naming of the swimwear.

The brand has a following in its native Sweden and in Finland, and, additionally, in Thailand. It is sold in 30 countries.

The company has diversified into fashion accessories and clothing. Most recently, it has taken a stake in the Swedish retail chain Wedins. [cite news |last=Storwall |first=Anna-Karin |url=http://www.e24.se/dynamiskt/konsumentvaror/did_14432419.asp |title=Ingen styrelseplats för Panos Emporio |publisher=E24 |date=2007-01-16 |accessdate=2007-01-23]

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