Title

Faces and Places in Fashion: Sergio Guadarrama

Contributor Names

Guadarrama, Sergio

Gordon, Caroline

Date

2020-09-14

Description

Part presentation, part Q&A, FIT's "Faces & Places in Fashion" lecture series is an opportunity to connect students and the public alike to the pulse of the fashion industry in an open and conversational setting.

Sergio "CELESTINO" Guadarrama and Kade Johnson are creating the world of CELESTINO with precisely crafted, eco-conscious and fashion-forward women's and men's collections. Established in 2005, the company unites classical couture techniques with innovative concepts, luxury fabrics, and unconventional details to create the aesthetic of CELESTINO. The CELESTINO atelier prides itself on being fully inclusive to all sizes and providing an intimate, personalized, unique experience for each client. The company makes a conscious effort to design garments that are tailored to each client's specific body type and sense of style- an upheld tradition true to the ways of haute couture. The brand currently operates its atelier in New York City, and manufactures its prêt-à-porter garments in Austin, Texas.

CELESTINO believes in designing with a purpose, maintaining a strong socially conscious mentality and standing up for environmental and political issues that affect the United States and beyond. Each design is created with hidden messages in order to bring awareness to social causes, and in turn, prompt others to assist in resolving them. As a company, CELESTINO recognizes that fashion and the environment have to coexist. In an effort to be an environmentally sustainable brand, they stray away from the use of toxic dyes and creation of new textiles, exclusively using upcycled materials, vegan fabrics and other findings. Sergio and Kade pride themselves in designing for clients of all sizes and ages; their goal is to empower each individual as they step into a CELESTINO garment.

After graduating from the Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising in Los Angeles, Sergio "CELESTINO" Guadarrama continued his love of studying at the prominent Fashion Institute of Technology in New York City. While in school, he worked with private clients and won numerous fashion design accolades, including the inaugural "Supima Cotton Design Competition." Sergio's skills were further refined during his freelance work at the Metropolitan Opera which gave him hands-on experience to build his craft. While freelancing, he had the privilege to work on productions such as "Madame Butterfly" and "Magic Flute" where he developed knowledge of old-world techniques, gaining expertise in a dying art and truly understanding how to drape for the human body. Kade Johnson manages the business and marketing of CELESTINO. His background consists of modeling and acting for noteworthy brands such as Neiman Marcus, Coca-Cola, Wrangler, Pier 1 Imports, JC Penney, Pizza Hut, Frito-Lay (Cheetos, Doritos and Lay's), Verizon, Moo Milk and Ford. With this experience, he gained knowledge and interest in videography and photography. Kade now organizes and styles the photoshoots for CELESTINO's collections, maintaining consistency of the brand's vision and mission. On the business and marketing side, he has been the head manager of multiple companies, including fashion retailers, giving him the skills build into CELESTINO.

Sergio and Kade pride themselves in using their creations to convey messages that inspire others to take a stand for social causes. Together they embrace the culture of the LGBTQ+ community and aspire to be positive role models within the fashion industry. They make a conscious effort as a company to be inclusive to all individuals regardless of gender identity or sexual orientation, and donate time and a portion of their profits to humanitarian organizations. Sergio and Kade make it their responsibility to mentor up and-coming designers and students from Fashion Institute of Technology, The University of Texas, High School of Fashion Industries, Parsons School of Design and Pratt Institute as a way of passing on valuable knowledge to future generations.

Type

Moving Image

Lectures

Subject

CELESTINO

Guadarrama, Sergio

Fashion design

Fashion designers

Clothing trade

Sustainable design

Sustainability

Rights

In Copyright

This video was produced by the Fashion Institute of Technology ("FIT") and is the property of FIT. FIT expressly prohibits the copying, displaying, or uploading to a website of any portion of this video, except for the purposes of fair use as defined in the copyright laws, without express written permission from FIT. This video has been made available online by the Fashion Institute of Technology Gladys Marcus Library strictly for research and educational purposes. If you are the copyright holder for content in this video and have any objections to this work being made available online, please notify us immediately at [email protected].

Identifier

FIT Repository ID: aod_000392