I'm a self-educated poly-disciplinary conceptual artist and designer with a background in traditional art currently practicing fashion and costume. I'm the maternal great-grand-daughter of Sicilian-Arab immigrants and come from a long lineage of artisans. My great-grandmother, Giussepina (Josephine) 'Paparone' De Luca, was a factory garment laborer in the progressive Amalgamated Clothing And Textile Workers Union, where she sewed most of her life. My elder's brief presence in my life deeply moved me as a child, and I consider my project to be a continuation of her craft and actualization of her greatest dreams.

The evolution of my project has spanned over a 15 year period of hands-on trial-and-error experience that has cultivated skill-set in garment construction, patterning, embroidery, beading, draping, painting, sculpture, makeup artistry, hair styling, art direction, set design, visual media, production and photography. My repertoire includes both upcycled and ethical plant-derived garments crafted from textile waste, dead-stock, reclaimed, recycled, salvaged, donated, and thrifted materials as well as sustainably-sourced and certified Eco-textiles. My creative process is intentional and ritualistic - it bypasses conventional and technical aspects and becomes a channel for inspiration, information, activism, and visual storytelling intended to be potent, magical, and impactful.  

Project Highlights: In 2024, I appeared as a contestant on the debut fashion series OMG FASHUN with hosts Law Roach and Julia Fox where I was second-runner-up in the Sexual Wellness episode and winner of the grand finale episode, Redemption. In 2019 I received a grant from the Queens Solid Waste Advisory Board (New York) where I conducted a class on upcycled totes. In 2018, I was a fashion sponsor of the student-led annual runway production at the Fashion Institute of Technology (New York) where I contributed pieces from my collection. In the same year, I contributed art prints to an art gallery fundraiser benefitting organizations The Young Center and Vocal New York. In 2017 I was selected among a dozen other American designers as a finalist in World of WearableArt's international design competition for my garment entry, Mother. Within the same year I appeared as a studio demonstration artist at the Denver Art Museum's artist studio in conjunction with the Star Wars costume exhibition. I then appeared a second time at the Denver Art Museum as an installation artist at Untitled Final Fridays after hours event in conjunction with the Japanese fashion exhibit. In 2016 I was selected among a dozen other American designers as a finalist in World of WearableArt's international design competition for my garment entry, Madame Deficit, which then exhibited for a year in the National World of WearableArt Museum in Nelson, New Zealand. 

"She takes a seemingly inanimate object and sheds new life into it by creating her bespoke design."

- Noctis Magazine (London, UK)

"A force to be reckoned with."

- COILHOUSE Magazine (San Francisco, CA)

"Not one to run with the pack, Rowell has a singular design aesthetic uniquely her own, one that was quietly bred in Aurora, Colorado, to erupt onto the fashion scene in a most-welcomed sensory sneak attack."

- IN Magazine (Dubai, United Arab Emirates)