Bio

John Stavros is a Greek-born, New York–raised cultural pioneer whose five-decade career spans sports, fashion, music, entertainment, design, and creative direction. From the 1960s London rock revolution to the rise of American soccer culture, and from New York’s artistic avant-garde to global multimedia innovation, Stavros has left an indelible imprint on multiple cultural movements on both sides of the Atlantic.

A scholarship athlete at Long Island University—later inducted into the LIU Hall of Fame—Stavros was drafted by the New York Cosmos in 1974, becoming part of the era that brought international football to the American imagination. His sports influence was not only personal but structural: in 1977, he founded one of the first modern women’s soccer teams in the United States, the SSTs, recruiting talent from the emerging worlds of fashion, theater, and athletics at a time when women’s football had no defined path. That initiative helped open the door to America’s future dominance in the women’s game, leading to the first full athletic scholarship for a female international player at NC State, now considered a foundational hub of U.S. women’s soccer.

At the age of 18 John experienced Jimi Hendrix play at the Singer Bowl Flushing Meadow Park and his life took a turn. He say to himself: if Jimi Hendrix can influence the public, I can do the same thing with Soccer.
Stavros’s early professional life unfolded in London beginning in 1968. He worked for three years as a stage manager for major British bands. His transatlantic career placed him beside cultural giants including Sir Alex Ferguson, filmmaker Richard Northcott, couture designer Charles James, and figures linked to English football’s arrival and expansion in the U.S. His work contributed directly to boosting the visibility and desirability of English clubs among American audiences long before the Premier League era.

Simultaneously, Stavros became deeply embedded in New York’s fashion, art, and glam-rock underground. He promoted the iconic Granny Takes a Trip, contributed to the glam rock movement, and collaborated with legends including Johnny Thunders, Sylvain Sylvain, and Bill Aucoin (manager of KISS) on visual branding and cultural presentation. As part of his creative circle, Stavros worked alongside Antonio Lopez, and moved socially among Jerry Hall, Bryan Ferry, Mick Jagger, and Andy Warhol — who photographed Stavros for his famed “Body Parts” series.

His visual and cultural influence expanded into media and performance through art direction for funk icon Betty Davis, appearances as a four-page centerfold in After Dark — the global LGBTQ arts bible of the era — and coverage in major national newspapers, including The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, and The St. Petersburg Times.

Today, Stavros channels this legacy into active contemporary creation through multiple ventures, including:

A multi-volume publishing trilogy (with Olympia Publishers)

Team Gear94, the original 1994 U.S. World Cup licensed apparel line, now being relaunched

Galena Soap Design Company, an art-driven luxury brand

Vision Girls, a multimedia superhero franchise centered on female archetypes

Kingston Pop Museum, his cultural headquarters and mentorship space in New York

He is also writing multiple forthcoming titles, including Ramona 009, The Foreigner, The Creation of the SSTs, and The Gay Mafia of the 70s.

Recognizing the cultural, historical, and commercial scope of his work across six decades, Stavros is now preparing to expand strategic visibility through professional public relations, archival storytelling, and global media partnership — in alignment with his lifelong creative bond with the United Kingdom, which he describes as both inspiration and destiny, rooted in the revolutionary spirit of Lord Byron.

Soccer. Style. Stavros.