made with love in san Francisco.
meet the comadres
Raffaella Falchi Macias, Casa Comadre co-founder
about raffaella
I grew up in a multicultural, blended family in Berkeley/Oakland, California born to immigrant parents from two very different parts of the world: Sicily and Argentina as well as a Mexican step-parent. This blend of cultures and traditions was very much a part of my childhood and formative years: from Italian being my first of 4 languages and spending my summers with family either in Sicily or Mexico, to participating in the yearly Carnaval parade in San Francisco and finally to living and working in Italy, Brazil and Nicaragua. After having my son in 2017, I realized it was hard to find children’s clothing that had culturally representative designs with imagery or messages that I could personally identify with. Design is often an expression of self, which includes identity, culture and life experiences. This is the inspiration behind our collaborative design project Casa Comadre.
Raffaella Falchi Macias is a designer, educator, choreographer and a mamma. She has worked many years at the intersection of architecture and design and arts education and youth development. She is currently the executive director at Youth Art Exchange, a non-profit that offers free visual and performing arts classes to SF public high school students. She holds a BA in Psychology with a Minor in Art from UC Berkeley and a Masters of Architecture from California College of the Arts. Brazilian Dance is one of her many passions and as the artistic director of Sambaxé Dance Company and a world dance faculty member of ODC, she has studied, taught and choreographed Brazilian inspired movement and dance extensively for the past 25 years.
about amy
I grew up in Salinas, California where the agricultural industry drew the two sides of my family. My grandparents on my paternal side immigrated from Jalisco and my family on my maternal side have been in the SouthWest and northern Mexico for generations. The homes of my childhood were always full with food, people, and open doors. The importance of family and community, of our well-being and vision of a future being wrapped up with and for each, was instilled in me at a very young age. Growing up, I didn’t see myself represented often amongst most of my teachers, business owners, or in popular culture; and when I did it was often a mis-representation. The way you see yourself reflected in the world matters to feel and be seen as a whole person; this is why creating these designs mean so much to me.
Amy Díaz-Infante Siqueiros is a visual artist living and Assistant Professor of Art at Cal State East Bay. She holds a BA in Art from Yale University, an MFA from the Rhode Island School of Design, and a Collegiate Teaching Certificate from Brown University. She has exhibited nationally and within México and is an alumna of the Djerassi Resident Artist Program. Community engagement has been a key component of her arts practice; and as an educator and administrator, she has been active in the fields of youth arts and youth leadership development.
Amy Díaz-Infante Siqueiros, Casa Comadre co-founder