Meet Débora Cervelatti Rossi

We recently connected with Débora Cervelatti Rossi and have shared our conversation below.

Débora, so excited to have you with us today. So much we can chat about, but one of the questions we are most interested in is how you have managed to keep your creativity alive.

I enjoy reading good books, traveling, admiring art, observing nature (and its amazing colors and textures), being close to the ocean, having meaningful conversations, spending time with people I love, cooking (which is definitely one of my true passions, specially talking about Italian food), going out for walks, paying attention to the spirit of the time and listening to songs that connects me with deep emotions.

Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?

If I were to define myself, I would say I am a dreamer who works hard to also be a doer.
I fell in love with fashion as a child, at my grandma’s house. She was a seamstress, making absolutely beautiful party dresses and I was enchanted by the fabrics, the way my grandma skillfully handled the scissors, pins and sewing machine, and even more by the reaction of clients while doing the fittings… it seemed magical to me, transforming someone’s mood simply with a well-made dress. It wasn’t long before I learned to draw the clothes I imagined in my fertile childhood mind, having sketched a daisy dress that my grandma made, which I wore on my 4th birthday. Creativity and creation were constants as I grew, along with languages, philosophy, debate, and critique. Many times I pictured an outfit, drew it and stored it away, only to see something similar on television months later at some runway, which I found quite intriguing. When it came time to choose what I would do with my life, I realized I didn’t know anyone who had studied fashion in college, I had no idea how it worked, what I could achieve and even how; my family was generally afraid of it, as no one personally knew a designer or someone who was on this field. So I decided to put my dream into my pocket and enrolled in law school. I wasn’t bad at it, I even made a quick internship at the United Nations headquarters in New York (where my college professors said I’d never reach, because I was just “a nobody” studying in Brazil). When I returned to my country, nobody wanted to hire me, precisely because I had “United Nations” on my resume, which made me expensive… ironically, I just wanted to work, it didn’t matter to me whether I’d start with a fat salary or not. I spent 8 months looking for a job that was already hard to find in a crisis-hit country and impossible for me, who heard things like “the judge’s nephew is cheaper than you, he needed a job, and my office needs good contacts” after killing on the interview.
Finally, a door opened. It wasn’t a law firm; it was at a handbag brand… this was one of the greatest blessings I received. My boss had worked for over 20 years with one of the largest designers in the world and for some reason, he suddenly started teaching me everything he knew. A little over a year later, he decided to return to Europe and I found myself, once again, unemployed. It was at that moment that my first clothing and accessories brand was born. I didn’t have an opportunity, so I decided to create one, with a design quite different of what was out there and we use to see in Brazilian stores. Months later, the pandemic locked us all at home and I continued working as best as I could. Even amidst the chaos, I found my purpose with every customer served, with each smiling photo received, saying that it was “the best clothes in the world”, that yet another woman felt beautiful wearing my clothes. I also decided, during all of this, to study fashion design. I needed to improve my references, skills and have a solid background in my studies in fashion. So I did.
After surviving the pandemic, serious misunderstandings with my business partner led us to the painful decision to shut down the brand. This affected me deeply, but I had no choice but to be resilient, reinvent myself and somehow keep working (and I learned that from my father). I discovered in LinkedIn some opportunities to work with brands as a designer and I didn’t even think twice. Meanwhile, I was studying to specialized in trends, and now I am not just a fashion designer but also a cool hunter, who provides consulting for brands and stores.
The dream of designing my own clothes never died and I continue to create them. Encouraged by my husband – and I am so thankful to him because he insisted many times that I had to be there-, I not only attended my first New York Fashion Week in September 2024 but did so wearing designs of my own. To my surprise, suddenly I had catch the attention of paparazzi, the audience of some runways, influencers (asking me “where is this breathtaking skirt is from?”, “when you gonna open your brand here in US? I want to dress like you”), investors and a fashion designer I had long wanted to meet and she encouraged and advised me to start again a new brand and take it to the United States. It was completely surreal for me.
Right now, I’m in Brazil, still working providing consulting for brands and stores, but also preparing to return to the United States and present something impactful, beautiful, designed to elevate women’s self-esteem and of course, commercially viable, at the New York Fashion Week of September 2025. In the beginning, I told you that I felt in love with fashion at my grandma’s home and I just spent a week with her, learning as much as I could all the techniques she developed throughout 60 years working as a seamstress and I can’t put into words how special this experience was and how important it is for what I want to show and offer to my future clients. So I am searching for investors to start this with me also.
Dreams become reality when we wake up, get out of bed, reinvent ourselves, fill our lungs with faith and put on the clothes of achievers.

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?

For me, more than a specific area of knowledge, it was about learning to be resilient, setting my goals, worked hard and studying for it too. I only shared a brief summary of my story; I’ve had many tough, challenging experiences, as well as wonderful ones.
My advice for those who are just starting out is don’t forget what you want to achieve and never underestimate the power of study not just the main themes of your field but be curious, go further, learn as many languages as you can because this not only makes possible to connect with other people and other cultures but it open doors worldwide. We’ve seen younger generations taking it easy with their studies because social media sometimes pays more to a influencer than to a company director’s or even to a CEO position and this is something to concern about. If the social media suddenly “ends”, what they’re gonna do? Who they’re gonna become? You can have your social media, you can be an influencer, but study hard to know what to do with all of that influence over your followers.

Awesome, really appreciate you opening up with us today and before we close maybe you can share a book recommendation with us. Has there been a book that’s been impactful in your growth and development?

There is a huge list of books that have been and are very important to me, such as “Antifragile” by Nassim Taleb, “For Whom the Bell Tolls” by Hemingway, “Art Needs No Justification” by Hans Rookmaaker, “Ostra Feliz Não Faz Pérola” by Rubem Alves, “Liquid Love: On the Frailty of Human Bonds” by Bauman, “À sua moda”, and the list goes on with Alessandro Michele, Jane Austen and so many authors.
But above all of them, the Bible remains an inexhaustible source of wisdom, strength, direction and peace. One of my favorite verses that has carried me through many seasons is this one: “He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.” Isaiah 40:29-31.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @dcervelatti
• Linkedin: /deboracervelattioliveirarossi

Image Credits

1) Feather jacket, flower top, tulle skirt designed by me. Photo by a paparazzi when i was leaving Mriya Gallery, at the NYFW.
2) The dress i designed when I was 4 yo. I am this black hair little girl, felling in a runway, so happy with my dress.
3) Me at UN Headquarters NY.
4) Photoshoot to the website of my first brand, wearing a zebra set designed by me.
5) Sewing my first skirt. The sewing machine is the same of my childhood.
6) My grandmother, teaching me how to cut properly a fabric.
7) Celebrating my first NYFW with my husband, at Pier 25.
8) Brainstorming with a client, brand owner, about the colors and shapes for the next season.