Hi, I'm Cristina.

I was a copywriter until I was 25 when I got a massive burnout from my job in advertising and decided to look for something else - between many of the things I tried (acting, writing, working in a film festival) a series of fortunate events brought me to sewing & fashion. I am currently doing a Master's in Fashion Design, working on this independent label and teaching at Wieder & Wider, the hobby sewing school I founded in 2019.

My pieces are born mostly from experiments and stumbled-upon color combinations. I am inspired by the city and the small fabric pieces or second-hand clothing I stumble upon in markets and second-hand shops. Most of the time my ideas are born from the fabric and chance encounters. The process of experimenting with materials and testing out possibilities at the sewing machine are my favorite parts. If only I could do that all day, and not have to do all the rest.

I like clothing that has at least some degree of uniqueness. I think clothes can help you feel fun and seen and make the ones around you curious and interested to talk to you. Hopefully, my designs will inspire people to approach each other, compliment each other, and get closer. We’re becoming too lonely! I also like to practice through wearing and making clothing the art of not taking myself too seriously (I sometimes manage, I sometimes fail).

Every piece is upcycled or made from a small piece of fabric that someone else preferred to get rid of because it made their life complicated. Well, I’ve always loved to complicate my existence.

My process is intuitive and chaotic and it sometimes takes ages: nothing ever goes as planned with upcycling, I am always working with different fabric textures and behaviors, patterns need to be adjusted to fit the small pieces of fabric, with second-hand clothes there is a lot of unpicking, avoiding holes and stains, etc. The day I manage to finish something sooner than I estimated will be a holy day. But this fabric limitation that brings all these challenges is to me also the biggest inspiration. I get great satisfaction from knowing I saved something from going to a landfill and managed to put it back in circulation and turn it again into a piece that someone will (hopefully) cherish for a few more good years.

I sew most of my designs myself, using second-hand clothes or fabric pieces from leftover boxes. This spring I went to the town in Romania where I spent all my summers as a child to visit my grandpa and found an atelier led by 5 women, also seamstresses. I collaborated on a few pieces with them. I cut everything myself before from upcycling materials and they assembled the main parts, then when I returned to Berlin I made the finishing touches. An interesting process that I would like to repeat when I go again to visit and try this way to investigate how to involve someone else in the chaotic and unique process of upcycling, while adhering to the principles of fairness and respect for sewing work, already undervalued in Romania.

In the other half of my time, I also teach sewing & upcycling classes. Simultaneously, I am completing my Master's studies.

I am currently an MA Fashion Design student at HTW Berlin, I am planning to graduate in winter 2024 - that will be a YEAR. Apart from this, since 2018 I have been teaching weekly sewing & upcycling courses at Wieder & Wider - if you feel you would also like to learn how to upcycle, repair, and reuse materials to make your own clothes, join one of my weekly classes.

Hi, I'm Cristina.

I was a copywriter until I was 25 when I got a massive burnout from my job in advertising and decided to look for something else - between many of the things I tried (acting, writing, working in a film festival) a series of fortunate events brought me to sewing & fashion. I am currently doing a Master's in Fashion Design, working on this independent label and teaching at Wieder & Wider, the hobby sewing school I founded in 2019.

My pieces are born mostly from experiments and stumbled-upon color combinations. I am inspired by the city and the small fabric pieces or second-hand clothing I stumble upon in markets and second-hand shops. Most of the time my ideas are born from the fabric and chance encounters.

I like clothing that has at least some degree of uniqueness. I think clothes can help you feel fun and seen and make the ones around you curious and interested to talk to you. Hopefully, my designs will inspire people to approach each other, compliment each other, and get closer. We’re becoming too lonely! I also like to practice through wearing and making clothing the art of not taking myself too seriously (I sometimes manage, I sometimes fail).

Every piece is upcycled or made from a small piece of fabric that someone else preferred to get rid of because it made their life complicated. Well, I’ve always loved to complicate my existence.

My process is intuitive and chaotic and it sometimes takes ages: nothing ever goes as planned with upcycling, I am always working with different fabric textures and behaviors, patterns need to be adjusted to fit the small pieces of fabric, with second-hand clothes there is a lot of unpicking, avoiding holes and stains, etc. The day I manage to finish something sooner than I estimated will be a holy day. But this fabric limitation that brings all these challenges is to me also the biggest inspiration. I get great satisfaction from knowing I saved something from going to a landfill and managed to put it back in circulation and turn it again into a piece that someone will (hopefully) cherish for a few more good years.

In the other half of my time, I also teach sewing & upcycling classes. And I also study. I am simultaneously completing my Master's studies.

I am currently an MA Fashion Design student at HTW Berlin, I am planning to graduate in winter 2024 - that will be a YEAR. Apart from this, since 2018 I have been teaching weekly sewing & upcycling courses at Wieder & Wider - if you feel you would also like to learn how to upcycle, repair, and reuse materials to make your own clothes, join one of my weekly classes.