Erika Cecere Studio

Fashion & Upcycling Designer · Haute Couture · Material Research

Erika
Maria
Cecere

My work starts from a critical reading of the present. I weave future scenarios of technology and the body together with the folklore and textile techniques of my home region, Salento, through material experimentation and hybrid techniques.

Model in a red draped dress from the DISTOPICA collection, crouching and looking into the camera
DISTOPICA · Photo Michele Del Signore

Collections

03 collections · 2022–2026

Mater Familias

  • Womenswear Haute Couture
  • F/W 26–27
  • MA thesis collection

A collection on the feminine multiverse rooted in Salento culture, between myth, ritual and silent resistance. It gives voice back to ancestral figures: matriarchs, masciare, silent wives, women who passed on their heritage through gestures, symbols and silences.

The starting point is the traditional Salento costume, and above all the boned corset, a garment that shaped the body and imposed its posture. Through craftsmanship and archaic visual codes, including family lace imprinted in silicone, each piece becomes a weave of narrative, identity and vision.

Six illustrated looks from the MATER FAMILIAS collection
Collection line-up, excerpt
Textile research board: Salento lace, stencil, lace imprinted in silicone
Weave and imprint in textiles
Moodboard with Baroque stone carving and a hand with silver rings
Moodboard
Final prototype at 1:5 scale on miniature mannequins
Final prototype, 1:5 scale
Sketchbook and toile for ornaments inspired by Lecce Baroque
Toile and Lecce Baroque ornaments
Prototype construction of the boned corset on mannequins
Prototype construction, boned corset

Distopica

  • Womenswear Haute Couture
  • Body · Technology · Identity
  • Milan Fashion Week, Feb 2025

The body as a modifiable surface, where bioprostheses, surgery and emerging technologies redraw the line between natural and artificial. The garment works as an extension of the body and a transitional device, part of how identity itself is defined.

Two pieces were exhibited and shown on the runway at Doll's Fashion House during Milan Fashion Week, February 2025.

Seven illustrated looks from the DISTOPICA collection
Collection
DISTOPICA collection timeline illustrations
Timeline
Research board with latex samples, quilting and musculature studies
Material and form research

Anedonia

  • Upcycling
  • A/W 2024–25
  • BA thesis collection

Stories of reuse and upcycling to elevate the present. Anhedonia, the inability to feel pleasure, becomes the starting point for six looks built from second-hand garments, studied, re-traced and transformed through pattern making.

Two pieces were exhibited in Romantica, curated by Clara Tosi in Rome, April 2024. Several looks later went on stage in The Nutcracker at Teatro Brancaccio.

Six final looks of ANEDONIA with their flat drawings
The six final looks and pattern study
Reference to Jesse Draxler and pattern tracing of the original garments
Reference and pattern tracing of the starting garments
Black and white editorial titled Bugonia
Bugonia editorial

Shooting

Editorial · styling by Erika Cecere

Distopica

Photo Michele Del SignoreModels Chiara Mancini, Giuseppe Celotto
Model in a red dress leaning back in profile Model in red reclining on the floor, wearing a metal necklace Male model seated, holding out a wide silver skirt Back view of a silver open-back gown Male model in the silver open-back gown, seen from behind

Anedonia

Photo Michele Del SignoreModel Chiara Mancini
Model in a pink and silver ruched dress, sitting Model lying on white paper in the pink ruched dress

Intraforma Magazine

Editorial project · 2024/25
  • Editorial design project
  • Collections DISTOPICA & ANEDONIA
  • Photo Michele Del Signore

Intraforma is a magazine about the body as interface, where the biological and the digital intertwine and forms without boundaries are born. It mixes essays, references and editorials shot on my own collections.

Intraforma magazine, cover
CoverUse the arrows or your keyboard

About

San Vito dei Normanni (BR), Italy · Open to relocation and travel

Fashion designer

I trained in Fashion Design at the Academy of Fine Arts of Frosinone, with an Erasmus+ semester at ESDAPC in Barcelona. My research explores the relationship between the human and the non-human, and I work with natural materials, recycled textiles, bioplastics, 3D printing and smart surfaces.

Before fashion I worked as a hairdresser and salon manager, which taught me precision, listening and responsibility. In the short term I want to grow across the fashion system, especially in product development and technical design. In the long term, my goal is creative direction.

Education

  • 2024–2026MA in Fashion Design, 110/110Academy of Fine Arts of Frosinone · MATER FAMILIAS
  • 2024–2025Erasmus+ exchange, 6 monthsESDAPC, Barcelona
  • 2022–2024BA in Fashion Design, 110 cum laudeAcademy of Fine Arts of Frosinone · ANEDONIA

Experience

  • Oct–Dec 2025Costume Designer, Teatro Brancaccio, RomeThe Nutcracker, costumes for the entire show
  • Sep 2023–Jan 2024Fashion Design Intern, Forma Studio, SoraStreetwear collection for a client brand
  • 2018–2022Hairdresser, province of BrindisiColour and cut · salon manager, 2021–2022

Exhibitions & Shows

  • 25–27 Feb 2025Doll's Fashion House, Milan Fashion WeekTwo DISTOPICA pieces, exhibited and on the runway
  • 13–14 Apr 2024Romantica, RomeCurated by Clara Tosi · two ANEDONIA pieces · interviewed by Diane Pernet

Skills & Languages

SoftwareIllustrator, InDesign, Procreate, Photoshop, CLO 3D (studying) CraftPattern making, draping, prototyping, technical sheets, textile research
ItalianNative EnglishC2 SpanishB1 FrenchA1

Let's work
together

Emailerikacecere.studio@gmail.com
Instagram@erikacecere.studio
LinkedInlinkedin.com/in/erika-cecere

Full portfolio and CV available on request.