FEDERICO CINA, Italy

At the age of three, Federico Cina told his mother he felt he had been “born in the wrong place.” By the time he was seven, he was learning to sew from his seamstress aunt. At ten, Cina was sewing himself, making costumes and clothing for friends. After leaving home for school in Florence, and later working in New York for Brooks Brothers, and in Milan for Emilio Pucci, Cina has returned to his family home base of Emilia Romagna, Italy with a new appreciation for his roots. A semifinalist for the 2021 LVMH Prize, Cina considers his biggest accomplishment “being able to accept and draw positivity from my culture and my origins.”