Chris Cera: Designer for change

(Conclusion)

Chris Cera is R2R’s product development specialist. He collaborates with the team on design directions and he is in charge of all sample-making for fashion, home and corporate lines and also assist in production and ad hoc concerns. He says his biggest “baby” so far is this year’s Spring/Summer Collection called Newel, which combines an indigenous hand-woven fiber called T’nalak from Southern Philippines with R2R’s signature material, the woven upcycled scrap cloth.

Cera believes that before one can break a rule, one must first know it. His many years in the industry have afforded him a mental archive of themes, styles, shapes, construction techniques and color combinations that he can always retrieve from. He knows the rules by heart, maybe even too well that he can’t quite be a fugitive on the run! So Cera has a tendency to stay classic. Nothing over-the-top. The law-breaking style is in the details: the mixing of two unlikely materials or prints, maybe the wayward or unexpected color or detail.

“When I was asked about what my fashion philosophy is before, the answer I could think of might now sound lame or meaningless: the design has to look just right,” Cera explains. “But taken in the context of the now, this principle takes with it years and years of experience, of trials and errors, of successful products and failed attempts, of personal favorites and what the market responds to (which is sometimes or often not the same), of designs born not out of creation but limitation. At the end of the day, it is my creative instinct, my designer gut that tells me what is just right. And that is often very subjective and hard to explain.”

Cera hopes to continue working for Rags2Riches and to be a significant contribution to its immense growth. He would like to experiment on weaving and continue offering something new and different, without sacrificing the established parameters of the organization or compromising eco-ethical principles. Cera believes in what R2R and its company head and social entrepreneur Reese Fernandez-Ruiz stands for and works hard to achieve.

  How does Cera see himself five years from now? “Outside of R2R, I would still like to pursue my fashion jewelry line,” he muses. “I believe I still have a lot of ideas just waiting to come to life. It really is something that gives me instant creative gratification. And of course, I also wish to continue teaching, like I do now at the School of Fashion and the Arts (SoFA) where I handle short courses on Bag Production. Designing is probably something I can’t live without. To impart the knowledge I’ve gained all these years to students who are hungry for it gives me an exciting new purpose and a different kind of high!”