2. I wish to thank the following individuals for
their help and support of my entire academic
experience, and encouragement to pursue
my dream of a career in fashion design.
Mark Chinitz
Morris Gaines
Margaret Grioli
Sue Houston
Walter Larkin
Sherifa Roushdin
Bill Sullivan
&
The Professors, Instructors, and Classmates
at Parson’s School of Design
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
4. My name is Cesar Antonio Ricci. I grew up in Santiago, Chile. And
was raised mostly around adults, and as a result was blessed with
maturity beyond my age. My parents moved from Chile to New
York City when I was four years old. I remained in Chile with my
grandmother who became my mother, my father, and my life
coach. My grandmother was a seamstress and it was at the tender
age of six where I began my appreciation for fashion learning
the basics at her loving side. I will never be able to express my
gratitude for having instilled in me the courage to never give up
on your dream. Sometimes I would become frustrated on not
being able to achieve certain aspects of my goals, but her kind
words of motivation helped to keep me moving forward. Her
words always ring true to this day as I continue to have difficulty in
life. When I encounter difficulty I think of her and I am motivated
to overcome almost any adversity. While my life in Chile was
fine, I knew if I really was going make something of myself that
following my parents to New York City was the thing to do. With
my grandmother’s encouragement I moved to New York City and
re-united with my mother and father and started taking English
classes and began to assimilate into a new culture, and rejected
mediocrity. While I encountered many obstacles including my
parents moving back to Chile, working multiple jobs, education
was the only way to achieve my dream.
While it seamed like a lifetime I attended the Borough of
Manhattan Community Collage for two years, and then was
accepted into the Associate Program at Parson’s, and then finally
into the BBA program at Parson’s. So finally after six years I will be
the first person in my family to graduate from college. I’m sure my
grandmother is looking down from up-above and is very proud.
That makes me happy!
4
Cesar Ricci
5. Photo Credit: Style.com
7
“I always wanted to be a designer.
I read books on fashion from the age of 12”
Alexander McQueen
6. Photo Credit: Peter Phillips
9
How Fashion Found Me
“Fashion” can be defined as a form of
style in dressing up and expressing
yourself. It is also growing rapidly and
making revolutionary transformation
of people day in day out. “Fashions
fade, style is eternal” (Saint Laurent,
1940)
Fashion came to me as a hobby.
Since I was a little boy I dreamt about
fashion and when I moved to NYC
and experienced different cultures
I started to learn multiple fashion
styles. One of the most important
aspects of fashion was how it found
me during Halloween. I made
different costumes for my friends.
This experience helped me decide
8. MEDIA: Hand made woven weave from India, broaches, jewelry
accessories and imagination.
DURATION: 1 week
Sustainability
AAS Parsons Fashion with Women Weave
Program
12
The project consisted of creating several
garments without wasting any fabric. Usually in
the fashion world there are tons of goods
waisted every year. The process in this project
was very simple. By using only two or less yards
of fabric and using different tools and utilizing
imagination, we came up with twelve different
looks for this project.
Photo Credit: WomenWeave.com
Photo Credit: WomenWeave.com
Sustainability is becoming a big trend and part of the social responsible
work ethic in the fashion world. Designers all over the world are conscious
about sustainability. Back in 2015 in my last semester in the Associate
Program in Fashion at Parsons we had to collaborate with WomenWeave
project. It is a Charitable Trust that creates an educational program to
women and young people in India where they learn and market hand
woven fabrics and accessories by the delicate, skilled hands of over
100 women in Central India. Their products are unique. Many yarns are
handspun from organic cottons with 100% natural dyes and loomed with
the utmost care and attention. There is literally no waist in any of their
production or manufacturing.
13
10. MEDIA: Digital Silk print fabric, horsehair, interfacing, hand sewing,
draping, and pattern construction.
DURATION: 4 Months
16
Couture
17
Haute Couture is one of the most misused terms
in fashion. Couture means dressmaking, sewing, or
needlework and haute means elegant or high. So
the two combined imply excellent artistry with the
fashioning of garments. The purchase of a haute
couture model garment is at the top level of hand
customized fashion design and clothing
construction made by a couture design house. A
model haute couture garment is made specifically
for the wearer’s measurements and body stance.
The made to measure exclusive clothes are
virtually made by hand, carefully interlined, stay
taped and fitted to perfection for each client.
Learning haute couture was one of my dreams
since I was young. I was always fascinated reading
fashion magazines at home and how a simple
garment can become a piece of art in the runway.
It is unpredictable how couture will impact your
life. People need passion and dedication in order
to be in this industry. A simple dress can take more
than six months to be executed to perfection.
Haute Couture is not a simple skill it is an Art.
11.
12. Drawing
20
A designer has to be able to show his clothing concept through a
drawing, portraying color, texture, and general fit of the garment.
Sketches are a big part of the design process. Before a garment is made
the designer has to conceptualized the idea of what it will look like.
Normally, fashion drawings employ very slim and elongated figures to
capture the contour of the garment.
21
13. 22
Draping for fashion designers is the process of positioning and pinning
fabric on a dress form to develop the structure of the spacing of the
garment design. A garment can be draped using a design sketch as a
basis, or a fashion designer can play with the way fabric falls to create
new designs at the start of the apparel design process. After draping,
the fabric it is removed from the dress form and used to create the
sewing pattern for the garment. Sewing is the next step after the
pattern is done and the fabric is cut.
Draping & Sewing
23
14.
15. 26
Internships
27
Internships provide real world experience to those
looking to explore or gain the relevant knowledge
and skills required to enter into a particular career
field. Many college students do internships to gain
relevant experience in a particular career field as
well as to get exposure to determine if they have
a genuine interest in the field. Internships are an
excellent way to begin building those all important
connections that are invaluable in developing
and maintaining a strong professional network
for the future. In today’s competitive world, only
the ones that can distinguish themselves from
this broad and general category are the highly
successful ones. And any person, who has the
ability to be very patient, hard working and has
enough self motivation, is also most likely to be
highly successful in the real world. My advice to
others is to learn your strengths and weaknesses
by receiving feedback from your supervisors and
co-workers. Internships are a unique learning
experience that you may never have again as
a working adult. Embrace your mistakes that
you make and learn from them. Ask questions,
observe, and take risks and do not try to be the
smartest person in the room.
16. 28
Costume Design
29
Costume design is storytelling.
The function of a costume
is to help the character and
the audiences to understand
“who” a character is. Simply
put, a costume designer strives
to conceptualize and design
garments that capture and
define the personality of fictional
characters from a screenplay
or idea. The ultimate goal of a
costume designer is to create
believable characters, with the
intent of advancing the story’s
progress.
17. 30
Shoes
Shoes of anystyle are loved bywomen across the globe! But, it is the heelof
the shoe whether it is stiletto, platform, high heel, or any of the imagination
heel design in such abundance that captures the love interest of women
of the world. Shoes run rampant in books, calendars, photographs, albums,
movies, dangling from car mirrors, monopolizing woman closets, or under
their desks at work, not to mention their feet itself. Shoes are a constant
obsession in pop culture endlessly talked about and fetishized in television,
movies, songs lyrics, and seem to be worn without fail by glamorous
celebrities no matter what the occasion.
Shoes have crossed the trend beyond an accessory and have become a
piece of art in and of itself.
31
18. MEDIA: Inspired by the famous movie “Belle” during
the 18th century. This costume include several layers
of tulle to have the illusion of puffiness. Silk, organza,
horsehair, canvas and fine details included in the
bustier area
DURATION: 4 months
32
MEDIA: The era of the Borgias television show was
the main inspiration for this costume. Rich brocade
and cotton were used for this garment, also gold
thread embroidery and Swarovski stones were
added to the cape as a special detail.
DURATION: 4 months
MEDIA: Court jester has been a historical idea for
generation during Halloween. For this garment was
essential to use jersey cotton with sparkling details.
The collar, cuff, and ankles accessories were hand
craft by using silk organza decorated with small
pearls hand sew.
DURATION: 4 months
Halloween
33
MEDIA: Josephine Baker was the inspiration
for this creation. Her unforgettable banana
costume used to dance in various famous
clubs in Paris, France. In this costume real
plastic bananas, hand sew beads and crystal
were attached to the bra and belt as well.
DURATION: 4 months
MEDIA: Religious themes has been always a
choice for people during Halloween. A rich red
cotton fabric and gold cording trims makes
this costume highlight the night.
DURATION: 4 months
19. I have big dreams about
becoming my own fashion
designer and creating my own
brand. And, yet while I know I
have talent, I also realize that
only a small percentage of
designers make it big. And, it is
always important to be practical
and to have something to fall
back on. Gahdi said it best;
“To reach for the stars while
keeping our feet firmly planted
on the ground”!
