Isabela Massaccesi Portfolio

I’m Isabela Massaccesi, a 27-year-old designer born in Brazil and raised in London from the age of two. When I was eight, my family moved to Saudi Arabia for a year and a half before returning to London when I was ten. Creativity has always been a huge part of who I am, and I went on to study Fine Art at both GCSE and A-level, where I developed an even greater love for drawing, design and bringing ideas to life.

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My journey into the fashion industry began through my mum, who started designing beautifully embellished bikinis, dresses and stage costumes for bodybuilders. As her designs quickly grew in popularity and the number of orders increased, I began helping her at home after school. What started as simply lending a hand gradually became something I genuinely loved and wanted to pursue.

After completing my studies, I began working alongside my mum full time and became increasingly involved in the creative side of the business. As my skills and confidence developed, I was trusted with more responsibility, from contributing to designs to eventually managing the creative process independently. Before long, I was sketching original concepts for clients, working with them to refine their ideas, gaining their approval and then bringing those designs to life by hand.

Over the years, my work has also given me the opportunity to travel internationally, attending countless bodybuilding shows across different countries and cities to support our clients in person. A large proportion of these shows have been in the United States, which has taken me to numerous cities across the country to work with clients backstage. I have assisted with the final presentation of their designs, made last-minute adjustments where needed and ensured that every detail was stage-ready before they stepped out to compete.

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Travelling internationally and being present backstage has become an incredibly valuable part of my experience as a designer. It has allowed me to see first-hand how my designs move, fit and perform under stage lighting, while also giving me the opportunity to work closely with clients during some of the most important moments of their competition journey. Seeing the finished piece come to life on stage, sometimes thousands of miles away from where it was originally sketched and created, is something I find incredibly rewarding.

One of the things that has kept my passion for design alive is seeing pieces I have imagined on paper being worn on stages around the world. No two designs or clients are the same, and I love the challenge of creating something that feels completely individual to the person wearing it. That constant variety keeps my creativity fresh and continually pushes me to develop as a designer.

Sketching remains one of my favourite parts of the entire process. There is something incredibly rewarding about starting with an idea and a blank page, developing it into a design, and then seeing that same sketch become a finished piece on stage. For me, each design is more than a costume – it is an opportunity to create something memorable, personal and completely unique.