ALESSIA PASQUINI

Alessia is a Fashion and Design Consultant specializing in material research, development, and experimentation. Originally from Italy, she built her career in the luxury fashion industry before moving to Amsterdam three years ago to deepen her knowledge of innovative materials at Waag.

Today she collaborates with Dutch and Italian clients, developing collections and exploring techniques with raw material producers, while grounding her work in trend and color research. Her practice combines a forward-looking vision with respect for heritage craftsmanship, reinterpreting traditional Italian techniques in experimental contexts.

Materia Futura project embodies this vision. She approaches bio-based and experimental materials as textiles, testing traditional methods on new matter, comparing them with established fabrics, and rethinking their potential for fashion and design. The goal is to build an archive of future materials that merge craftsmanship with innovation.

With years of experience as an embroidery developer for leading fashion houses, Alessia has worked extensively with sequins and embellishments. After seasons surrounded by plastic-based sequins, she is now committed to creating bio-based alternatives, bringing sustainability into decorative craft without losing its beauty and expressive power.

Her background in graphic design further strengthens her practice, allowing her to turn material research into visually striking and impactful narratives.

alessia.pasquini@icloud.com

BEATRIZ SANDINI

Beatriz Sandini is a Brazilian-born designer and researcher based in Amsterdam, working at the intersection of material innovation, sustainability, and speculative design. As a founding designer of Materia Futura, she leads the project’s research and experimentation, shaping its vision and guiding its explorations into bio-based materials, regenerative systems, and indigenous knowledge.

Her work is driven by a deep curiosity for how things are made, a commitment to hands-on experimentation, and a belief in collaborative, future-facing design practices. By bridging her experience as a fashion buyer, independent designer, and educator, Beatriz navigates both the practical realities of production and the imaginative possibilities of experimental material research.

She has contributed to projects such as Reflow, Shemakes, and Local Color, while also developing independent initiatives including Ephemeral Fashion Lab, MANI, and Materia Futura. Her approach emphasizes not only the materiality of design — color, texture, form — but also the systems, stories, and social contexts that shape them.

At Materia Futura, Beatriz’s role is to envision and prototype new ways of working with materials, connecting ancestral knowledge, sustainable practices, and experimental research to imagine regenerative futures.

biasandini@gmail.com

PAULINA MARTINA

Paulina Martina is a fashion technologist, educator, and researcher focused on how digital tools can support inclusive, sustainable futures. Working with AR/XR, digital twins, augmented reality, and virtual reality, her practice engages both traditional craft and emerging technologies. Her current research explores how digital literacy in arts education can equip makers to critically engage with technology by navigating and questioning a rapidly evolving creative landscape through making.

info@hearthdesignlab.com