Karina Nasywa Bakri
What is your full name?
Karina Nasywa Bakri.
What is your first name?
Karina.
Where were you born?
Bandung, Indonesia.
Where do you currently reside and work?
New York City.
What is your educational background?
I graduated with a BA in Textile Design from Bandung Institute of Technology and an MFA in Fashion Design and Society from the Parsons School of Design, New York.
What are other details of experiences, work or otherwise, that have led you to your current work?
In Indonesia, I interned at Noesa and worked as a designer at STUDIOMORAL for three years. My collection for Noesa was featured in the World Ikat Textiles Symposium in 2019. My work has appeared in Helsinki Fashion Week, Unfamous Magazine, New School Free Press, FIT's Runway27, Fashion Crossover London, Not Just A Label, and most recently, Parsons Benefit 2025. I was featured on the cover of Time Out New York's September 2024 issue alongside several emerging New York-based fashion students, and was a semi-finalist for Harper's Bazaar's Asia Newgen Fashion Awards in 2022.
How would you describe your practice/business?
I create work that explores my childhood, heritage, and dedication to contemporary craftsmanship. Since 2020, I have been dedicated to transforming deadstock and discarded materials. I embrace intense color palettes, layered transparency, and a sense of ease to create pieces that celebrate stories while empowering the wearer.
Beyond fashion design, I work in costume design, creating custom looks for Indonesian indie rock band Reality Club during their North American tour, as well as for musicians Rachun, Sigmun, Bin Idris, and Adrian Khalif across album covers, press photos, and music videos. I also designed costumes for the Kapan Resign musical. In 2023, I began making experimental shorts at Parsons, blending garment-making with film to create layered textures inspired by Stan Brakhage.
What are the highlight projects in your career so far?
The highlight projects in my career so far include Helsinki Fashion Week 2024, where I presented ‘what do you miss most about home?’. This collection reflects the complex journey of adapting to new environments while preserving cultural identity.
Another important project was the World Ikat Textiles Symposium in 2019, where I presented ‘Nian Amin’ as part of my internship with Noesa. The title ‘Nian Amin’, or ‘Our Home’ in Sikkanese, captures the deep connection between craft, place, and identity. We collaborated on creating a natural-dyed textile with weavers from Watublapi, Flores, Indonesia, and the collection was inspired by the natural beauty of the island, drawing from the sea, the land, and the sky.
What are you currently working on?
I recently presented my MFA graduate collection during New York Fashion Week on September 14, 2025, at The Glasshouse in New York.
I also participated in HIV Unwrapped 2025, where designers collaborated with HIV scientists to interpret their research into garments. Supported by the Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA), the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD), the Australasian Society for HIV, Viral Hepatitis and Sexual Health Medicine (ASHM), and equalpride, the project provided mentorship from Tanner Fletcher and raised awareness for HIV.
In addition, one of my short experimental films was recently featured in the Textile Short Film Screening in Brooklyn on September 25, 2025.
Instagram: @_karinasywa_
Website: karinasywa.com