Generous Systems: Fashion and Architectural Designer Sera Ghadaki on Trusting Instincts and Working Across Scales
Sera Ghadaki by Alex Carter.
By Julia Gamolina
Sera Ghadaki is an architectural and fashion designer, educator, and founding member of WIP Collaborative. She also leads SERA GHADAKI, a design atelier focused on garments, spatial design, and material exploration. Her practice spans independent projects and collaborations with design firms in New York City. She currently teaches at Pratt Institute, where she encourages emerging designers to think critically about form, context, and social impact.
JG: I really admire that you’re working across many scales — garments, products, and environments. With such a varied creative practice, what are you focusing on most and thinking about most for the remainder of this year?
SG: I’m focused on the fashion side of my practice and envisioning what my next collection could be, not just in form, but in purpose. I’m also thinking through what an in-person presentation could look like and how the space, movement, and atmosphere around the collection can take shape. Even though this work is at the scale of the body, I still approach it architecturally —how the garments inhabit space, how people move through it. I love that I can approach a collection holistically—designing the garments, developing a short fashion film around them, shaping the environment they inhabit, and thinking about how it all comes together to tell a story. It’s deeply fulfilling to be able to move fluidly between disciplines.
Threadworks, and ongoing material series making textiles and low-waste garments out of thread and thread scraps. Photography courtesy of Sera Ghadaki.
Now let's go back a little bit — tell me about why you studied architecture, and the biggest lessons from each place you studied it.
My decision to study architecture came from a desire to explore design more broadly. I was already very interested in fashion and had studied it, but I wanted to understand how people’s stories and experiences could be shaped at other scales. I ended up applying to the Environmental Design program at OCAD U almost by chance. Originally, I was planning to apply for advertising — but one day while working on fashion shoot, I struck up a conversation with a photographer and mentioned I was applying to undergraduate degrees. He mentioned the Environmental Design program at OCAD U and described it as this hybrid of architecture, interior design, and urban studies. That really resonated with me.
OCAD U was incredibly formative. The program was multidisciplinary by nature, and my classmates were interested in everything from furniture design to public space. I spent a semester studying abroad in Lahti, Finland, in the Interior Architecture department at Lahti University of Applied Sciences. Living in a very different climate and cultural rhythm taught me how to slow down, how to design with care, and how to value simplicity executed well. Later in the program, during a history and theory course, I became especially drawn to architecture and decided to pursue a Master’s degree upon graduation.
At Pratt, where I did my M.Arch, I learned to communicate more clearly, collaborate more intentionally, and prototype and experiment more iteratively. Perhaps just as importantly, being mentored by a wide range of professors at Pratt helped me understand the kind of educator I might want to be. I started to pay closer attention to teaching styles, the dynamics in critique, and the ways different approaches impacted students. That experience made me realize I was not only interested in design practice, but in teaching as a practice in itself. It gave me an early sense of how I might one day create a learning environment rooted in self-expression, experimentation, and care.
“I love that I can approach a collection holistically—designing the garments, developing a short fashion film around them, shaping the environment they inhabit, and thinking about how it all comes together to tell a story.”
You've worked at various offices and taught before I came to know you through your work with WIP. Tell me about the lessons learned from the various places you've worked.
One of my biggest lessons has been that design work is often expected to be delivered at a high level, regardless of time or resources. That can be frustrating, but it also teaches you how to be resourceful and decisive. I try to pass that on to my students—not to treat the work as overly precious, but to take it seriously, and to learn how to work efficiently without losing intention.
Tell me more about the evolution of your practice into fashion and wearables, and your work with WIP.
Fashion has always felt part of my life. I started sewing and making clothing when I was fifteen, and it’s felt like a natural form of expression. Over the years, that grew into making custom garments, small batch pieces, collections, and shows. From the start, I was committed to responsible practices — working with natural textiles, local sewers, deadstock fabrics, and custom prints, and to create pieces that were personal and special.
As I developed my architectural thinking, the fashion work started to shift alongside it. I became more interested in material experimentation — embedding LEDs into clothing, working with responsive textiles and material reuse, and exploring garments as interfaces between body and space. It wasn’t just about fashion or architecture anymore; it was about how bodies interact with material systems in space.
I was drawn to WIP Collaborative because I wanted to be part of something collaborative, open-ended, and experimental. I loved that it brought together people working across disciplines who were asking similar questions about process, participation, design values, and professional practice as a whole. I get to bring in all the different aspects of my practice—conceptual thinking, making, spatial design—and work alongside others who are doing the same in their way. That sense of shared curiosity and mutual support is something I really value in collaboration.
Soft Fits by WIP. Photography courtesy of WIP Collaborative.
Looking back at it all, what have been the biggest challenges? How did you both manage through perceived disappointments or setbacks?
One of the biggest challenges was the internal tension I felt after graduating, trying to fit into a traditional architecture career path while knowing, deep down, that I wanted to build something more independent. I took full-time roles at offices because I believed in the work and wanted to commit to it, but there was always a voice in the back of my head nudging me toward something else.
The hard part at that time was reconciling that dissonance — being grateful for the experience, but also being honest with myself about what felt meaningful. I’ve realized over time that it’s not just about what I do, but how and why I do it. That clarity has helped me navigate moments of doubt and redefine success on my own terms.
What have you learned in the last six months?
More patience and resilience. Creative work, especially independent work, takes time: time to experiment, to pivot, to rest. I’ve had to unlearn the pressure to always be producing and embrace a more cyclical, intuitive rhythm. I've experienced that work and certain opportunities don’t always announce themselves right away. You just have to keep moving through it.
“Creative work, especially independent work, takes time: time to experiment, to pivot, to rest...I’ve experienced that work and certain opportunities don’t always announce themselves right away. You just have to keep moving through it.”
Who are you admiring now and why?
Music has always been a huge source of energy and inspiration for me, and I admire artists who carve their paths, often fearlessly. Sudan Archives stands out in that way. Her sound is completely her own, and she’s constantly experimenting and evolving. I was honored to make some custom pieces for her tour a while back, and it was a joy to create for someone whose work I deeply respect.
What is the impact you’d like to have on the world? What is your core mission? And, what does success in that look like to you?
I’d love to contribute to a shift in how we design, produce, and think about materials, especially at the intersection of fashion and architecture, two industries that generate a huge amount of waste. There’s real potential to innovate through circular systems and materials that are modular, biodegradable, or responsive — things that can move between disciplines and challenge how we think about permanence.
My mission is to create work that positively affects people through how they feel in a garment, how they move through a space, or how they think differently about material or design. I want to help create systems and experiences that feel generous, inclusive, and grounded.
Success, for me, would mean that this kind of work is supported — financially, socially, structurally — so that it can grow beyond what I alone can make. I want it to be sustainable, scalable in the right ways, and to open doors for others. If it inspires people to think more expansively about what’s possible in their practices, that would be the greatest success.
Soft Fits by WIP. Participatory workshop at The Bentway Studio and Sera’s neice weaving colored paracored onto the installation!. Photography courtesy of WIP Collaborative.
Finally, what advice do you have for those starting their career? Would your advice be any different for women?
Your path doesn’t need to be linear to be meaningful. In fact, it probably won’t be. Try different things; take on projects that scare or surprise you. Pay attention to what feels energizing and what doesn’t. Every experience, even the ones that don’t seem to “fit,” will teach you something valuable.
There’s often pressure early on to make the “correct” decision, or to stick to one track. But careers are long and dynamic. You can change your mind. You can build something totally new. Just stay curious and generous, with yourself and others.
For women and anyone who feels marginalized or underrepresented in design spaces, I’d say: trust your instincts. You don’t have to conform to a mold or shrink yourself to fit into systems that weren’t built for you. Take up space, ask questions, share your ideas. You have something valuable to contribute, and your path can be abundant and entirely your own.
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.