Content Creation
Isabel Lauren Loewe
Nov 4, 2025
Bella Pietro
We spent most of our time with her tucked into the intimate chaos of her basement apartment in Bushwick, Brooklyn, bursting at the seams with fabric and fervor. We touched on her tireless work ethic, her commitment to bold, alternative styles, and her advocacy for ethical labor practices in fashion. She admits that her distinctive aesthetic has less to do with weddings, having never attended one, and more to do with the unfortunate overabundance of funerals she has attended.
Her diabolically chaotic process, rooted in painstaking and meticulous dedication, is quickly evident within moments of our conversation.
We photographed Bella while we interviewed her and, through her own words, learned how she truly “serves cunt.”
You’ve carved out a really specific niche with these dark wedding gowns. How did you even get into this?
So, my grandma was a fashion designer. Yeah. I have a lot of her pieces that I can, like, show off,” [gestures at mannequin graveyard]. “But I've just always, like, intuitively been like, I want to make clothes and styling, and everything like making jewelry. It’s just such a fun medium because you can wear it. Other mediums just kind of sit in your house, you know. But I've been sewing since I was eight, which is crazy.
So, you’re kind of a wedding industry nepo baby?
On my dad's side of the family, too, they did bridal designs. They were mob-affiliated, and their husbands got sent back to Italy, but the women stayed and knew they needed to turn it around. All the women had to sew in the garment district. But my grandma was just kind of like, I like to sew, and I like to make things. I still have a lot of her designs and pieces. I've been able to get into it so young because of the exposure. I feel like when people think about nepotism, they just think about it like, oh, that person has money and dumps it into it. But nepotism and stuff like this, I wouldn't be nearly where I am in my career if I weren't put on a sewing machine at such a young age.
Did you go to school for fashion? Or did you just figure it out yourself?
I was going to FIT for fashion design, and I was just like, I've been sewing for so long, I don't need more sewing classes. I just wanna make money so I can do my own thing. It was just at the point where I was like, OK, I know what I'm good at. I know what I need to hire people for. I don't want to do this. And it was during COVID, which was nice because dropping out was kind of chill, you know?
Were you good at school?
Fuck no, no, no. I have spatial issues. Just like spatial awareness. I'm not good at that stuff. When making patterns and stuff, you have to draft them, and let's say one line is like 1/4 of an inch, not straight or not perfect, it throws the whole pattern off. I'm horrible at things like that, and everything is so boring. The way you have to do it there is so boring.
Do you think fashion school helped at all?
I think too many people drop out of art school now. I think people should respect the crafts overall more, and with so many people not going to school or dropping out, there are so many who don’t respect the basics. The reason that the people who say ‘don't go to school’ say that is because they already knew what they were doing before then. I'm so happy I went 'cause they're intense. I learned so much about how the industry works. And that’s why I have the opinions I have about the ethics behind the fashion industry.
jadevisions
What are your opinions on the ethics behind the fashion industry?
I want to come out with some jewelry soon because you just had someone put some metal in some mold in a machine in China. It's not like human labor. I would never do unethical sewing labor because that’s really intense. And a really intense skill. Jewelry is really easy to get around because these machines fill up molds. Sewing is intense, like skilled labor. That's why fast fashion is evil. Most stores now sell clothing that is just made by slaves, and that’s why it’s so cheap. When you sew garments, you realize how much work goes into it. So, when you see a shirt that obviously a lot of labor went into making it selling for like $12.00. It’s just like bullshit, you know.
You’ve already been featured in Harper’s Bazaar. What inspires you now?
I mostly just work off of the design elements like texture, color, and shape. But the one thing I do most is researching different eras of fashion. It started off with the Marie Antoinette stuff, and those designs blew up. Now, it’s a very normal aesthetic that everyone does on social media. Now I'm into flappers and Victorian styles. I’m always changing my aesthetics and evolving. The stuff I originally got popular for was funny embroidery. It was corny as hell. I got to a point where I was like, I'm not using my skill set, so I retired those designs. That was when I was ‘Izzy’s World’. I’m changing everything to Bella Pietro now.
Tell us about your process. You’re not a planner, right?
These are sketches I'm doing for a wedding dress commission, which is by far my biggest one yet. She has a huge budget, and it's a Greek Orthodox wedding in California. And this dress I did in like four days, I think. That was crazy. I didn’t sleep for like three days in a row. It's hard for me to break in between pieces because I'm so obsessive that I will dream of the pieces while I'm sleeping. And it's like, I just need to get it done.
Bella Pietro
Do you have anyone to help you?
Yeah, so, it's hard to find people to help me because I'd rather hire someone to sleep [for me] instead of someone to help me. Like, it would be easier. I've gone through so many seamstresses. I never text back because I don't sleep right now. Oh, my God. Yeah. I just work all the time. I take Adderall, and then I just work until projects are finished.
You’re going to be very successful if you don’t kill yourself.
So you know, it's a fine line, but you'll die anyway. I don't even get upset about rejection or anything. I'm pretty confident in the direction of my career. So like, if someone doesn't like this or doesn't like that… It’s like whatever, you know? I have my whole life to be successful. My thing is, as long as I'm sleeping by the time I'm 25, I'm good.
You’ve done fashion shows, right? What’s your craziest one?
I pulled a whole fashion show together in six days. I didn't eat or sleep for six days. That was the craziest one I’ve done. I know I won't do that to that degree again, but it's like I'm crazy for it, you know. Wanting to be a fashion designer is kind of like wanting to be a pop star these days. You know, it is super competitive.
What sets you apart from other designers out there?
I love designing evening wear and prom dresses. It’s a lot of fun, and people like it online. Like, a lot. There’s just not really anyone on the market that does what I do. There are other edgy people, whatever. But for evening wear, there's not really anyone designing edgy evening wear. I made my prom dresses in high school just because I didn’t find anything I liked. So people really like my prom stuff.
So what’s next? What’s your big plan?
I want to have different teams. I want to have a team that does like everyday clothes. I want to do an evening wear line. I want other people who can help me with that. Basically, I can come into work and draw up some designs, and we make the pattern, and that’s all I have to do. So that way I can actually sleep. My long-term goal is to never sew again. I hate sewing. Actually, I hate it. I love designing. Everything else is so boring.
I’m into career longevity. I think it’s the most important thing to keep in mind if you’re an artist. I definitely study career longevity, like what people are doing to stay relevant. And marketing on social media. That’s why the bridal content is good. I’ve developed a good following of 24 to 35-year-olds, and that’s good because they’re usually not as interested in following trends, so they’re loyal followers. I’m trying to focus on growing my 18 to 24-year-old audience right now.
Bridal is kind of what I feel like I’ll be known for overall. Like all the people with crazy-ass pronouns, no one makes wedding dresses for that demographic.
