Romina Cenisio On Working for Alexander Wang, Rihanna, and Her Own Brand

For Teen Vogue, fashion is all about giving you a behind-the-scenes look at the industry, thinking deeply about why we wear the things we do, and, of course, finding inspirations for our closets. To kick off NYFW, we are doing just that. In this story, we chat with creative Romina Cenisio about everything from her work for Rihanna to starting her own brand.

Romina Cenisio has always been obsessed with nature. Growing up in El Paso, a city in Mexico that sits on the El Paso border, and spending a lot of time in Ciudad Juárez her backyard was the desert, so most of her design aesthetic and core concepts tie back to Mother Earth.

Cenisio cites nature as her first love, and fashion as a close second. Her mother was a seamstress, from whom she learned the essentials of garment construction: sewing, basic pattern-making, fitting, and alternations. In high school, Cenisio even designed her own prom dresses. This led her to the Fashion Institute of Technology, where she pursued a fabric-styling degree in a program with a focus on concepts, trend forecasting, research, and visual landscapes. “For me, this made more sense than studying fashion design,” she says. “I think quite conceptually, and this allowed me to flex my multiple creative skills.”

Not forgoing her love of nature, Cenisio also decided to study veterinary medicine, which she paid for with various fashion design gigs. While she was honing her duties and experiences as a veterinary student (spending summers in Mexico working at zoos, and internships at aquariums), the design opportunities flooded in, and she was forced to make the decision to pivot to fashion full time.

Cenisio has since worked with some of the biggest names in fashion: Hood By Air, Nike, Alexander Wang, Rihanna, and more. She attributes her success as a creative director to wearing a lot of smaller hats at first, such as graphic designer, brand consultant, and stylist. She worked at Nike as a graphic designer, where she designed the “Just Do It” tee for an NYC capsule collection. At Hood By Air she created the HBA contact lenses and the “FACES” collection, in collaboration with photographer Kevin Amato. At Alexander Wang she worked on the Female CEO collection (Fall/Winter 2018), including the coveted CEO Sunglasses. Cenisio considers herself lucky to have been able to work on teams that have been crucial to changing the narrative in fashion, streetwear especially. Most recently, Cenisio launched her own brand, Infinite Resort.

Teen Vogue spoke with Cenisio about designing, her relationship with nature, and how she’s carving out her own space in the fashion industry.

Teen Vogue: What types of things inspired you when you were growing up?

Romina Cenisio: So, I’ve sort of had this dichotomy since I was a child of what my interests are. I was always super obsessed with nature and how things work. I never wanted Barbies; I wanted science kits and books. Naturally, I was very drawn to the world. I was always going on adventures. The fashion part was out of necessity. My mom was a seamstress, and I was like her little helper. In Italy if you were lower-class, the oldest child was always sent to learn how to make clothes. Gianni Versace and a few other iconic Italian designers have similar stories, where they learned how to sew out of necessity.

TV: What does being a graphic designer at a fashion brand mean?

RC: In my experience, graphics are also branding, marketing, social media content, creative direction, strategy, as well as the obvious of knowing how to design anything your team or your brain can imagine. It's a mixture of tangible design skills, but it also means conceptualizing ideas; imagining how to interpret art onto clothing; being able to express this idea in a comprehensive way; being able to follow through on executing these ideas. You need a thorough knowledge of design programs, printing techniques, weaving, knitting, embroideries — all of that. It means you have to be able to work with everyone on a design team and design not only your ideas but the ideas of others. It's a very intensive job that requires a sharp eye as well as good design skills.

TV: You’ve worked with a lot of big names like Hood By Air, Nike, and Rihanna. What were some of the biggest lessons you learned working with them?

RC: I've learned that it's really important to be present as a team member. You know, it's like finding the balance between “OK. Yes. Like, I'm an artist” and, you know, “I'm an artist and a designer.” But there's also a team involved. And I think that that's one thing I'm seeing a little bit with some of the younger generation, is that a lot of them feel like, “Oh, I've done one thing and, like, now I'm an icon.” And, like, they don't want to do the work. Remember that doing the work is really what is going to get you where you want to be.

TV: What was it like working as a woman in a male-dominated sector of fashion, such as streetwear?

RC: Let me start off by saying things have been changing and getting better, and that I am so thankful for all the men I've worked with who have treated me fairly and taught me so much about negotiating and evaluating my worth. I think in order to progress as a society it's important to be honest, so it's helpful to call out the issues I've seen that I think can get better. The two biggest cons in my experience are the pay gap and that your male peers tend to get much more credit and "shout outs" from their team than women do. I have many male peers that were super helpful and honest with me, [but] I'll never forget the times I found out how much less I was [making] in the same position or project than a man was. Or not getting credit the way they do. I think some of it comes from expectations and confidence, and some of it comes from this natural team mentality men share with one another. I think this subject is something we need to grow with as a society, and not necessarily put the blame on men, but the overarching nature of the patriarchy we live in.

TV: What was it like designing for Rihanna?

RC: I got to work with Rihanna's creative director and her stylist, and it was so cool! She was very involved in making design decisions, and it was great to work with a team with such a clear vision. The album had such a strong message, and the design direction was very powerful from the beginning. Seeing her wear it onstage, and seeing all the articles talk about it, it was honestly a dream. It came out after Justin Beiber's Purpose and Kanye's Life of Pablo merch, so it felt like a win for women, being that I was — of those three capsules — the only woman graphic designer. I'm so thankful for that opportunity.

TV: You are now behind your own line, Infinite Resort. Have you taken lessons that you've learned from previous brands and implemented them into your own?

RC: Yes, everything! There are more lessons to implement, but I've seen a lot of good and a lot of bad in my career. A lot of budgets and resources wasted on the wrong things. However, Infinite Resort is its own thing; it's not on a schedule, it's not fast fashion, it's not even just fashion — it's a platform. It's a way to connect with the earth in ways we have yet to explore. And I plan to use all my experience and lessons to grow it in a way that is meaningful and sustainable.

TV: How did you know that you were ready to branch out on your own?

RC: When you're ready, you're ready. I had wanted to do it for years, but honestly it's hard when you don't come from money. That's the reality — period. But at some point there is no other option than that you absolutely need to bring your vision to life. I think it came just on time, because if I did an earth-inspired line in 2015, people might have been like, “Um, okay, nerd.” Now I feel really confident that I don't care how I sound, I don't care if I'm too intense, I don't care if I'm a nerd. This is my platform to explore how I can be a catalyst to make people care about the earth and build a community around it.

TV: Your brand is very anchored to nature and the earth, as well as awareness of those things. How did you decide that your ideas surrounding the environment would be the ethos of the brand?

RC: My mission is really to connect nature to humanity. And I call Infinite Resort an immersive platform for connecting nature to humanity, no matter what that outlet is, whether it's fashion or if it’s the travel guide/zine.

TV: Your capsule collection features images in nature shot by National Geographic photographers. What was the intention behind that collaboration?

RC: Honestly, I didn't even think it was going to happen. The idea came about in my mind as I was just thinking about how people are so disconnected from nature, especially in cities. How could I connect even my own friends and community and the fashion industry and start this conversation? And so I sketch these dresses. And I was thinking of expressing each element — earth, air, fire, water — also as a way for people to identify what they feel connected to. And who has more epic images than National Geographic? Their photographers dedicate their lives to this. I started cold emailing and searching images, plugging them in to try and see what would and wouldn’t work to physically engineer the images on my designs. I prepared a presentation for them, and this was luckily the one time I was able to flex regarding the people that I’ve worked with. But also, when you're talking to people at National Geographic, they don't care about fashion; they’re trying to save the world. I got lucky that all of my target photographers got back to me and were really interested in the project. With all of them, I immediately proposed that we donate 20 percent of the profits to their chosen foundation. It was a lot of navigating different ideas and making sure that everybody felt comfortable with what they were giving and what they were putting in.

TV: Lately some of the most potent conversations around fashion are about sustainability. Where does your brand fit into that conversation?

RC: You just can't, especially in 2020, start a business if it's not sustainable. If you're starting a business now, you have the opportunity to do all the research to start it as a sustainable business. But it's also super complex, you know? It's something that's going to take time, because not any one thing can be 100 percent sustainable. Right? Existing is not sustainable, you know? So for Infinite Resort, I try to look at it from every angle that was possible for me: Are the fabrics recycled or organic, or using materials that use low water? Again, you're not going to hit the nail on every single thing, but you just have to do your best.

TV: What advice can you give up-and-coming creatives who want to be successful in fashion?

RC: I would say to get all the experience you can and learn as much as you can about the industry. Stay true to yourself while also putting in the work. Take opportunities, even if it's not exactly what you want to do, especially in the beginning, because it will always come back and help you. Adjacent internships and assistant jobs ultimately make you grow. Knowledge is power, so the more you know, the more valuable you are to a company. There is enough abundance in this world for everyone to be successful, so be true to yourself, work hard, and don't EVER give up. Everyone's success comes at their own pace, so don't get discouraged if it doesn't happen when and how you want it to. Get comfortable with enjoying the journey and all the ups and downs that come with it — there are no mistakes, only lessons to be learned! Also: connect together, build together, listen together, grow together. Be a sponge. Remember, you are infinite.

Originally Appeared on Teen Vogue