Erika Neumayer was born in Chicago, IL on November 26, 1986. Since then she has been allowing her creative side to shine through. After graduating high school in 2005, she knew that she wanted to make a career out of creating art and using her hands… a desk job, was not an option and a degree in fashion design from Dominican University was what was going to allow her to do that.
Erika’s college career was full of new experiences and creative outlets. Her sophomore year, Erika received the Up and Coming Designer of the year award at the 2007 Dominican University Fashion show. That May she also traveled to Ghana, West Africa to study the prominent textile industry. That trip, she says, “opened my eyes to the world of cultural textile and dress”. From then on, Erika made it a point to make sure that any further travels included study of cultural dress and the traditional fabrics. In 2008, Erika designed and created eight garments for the Dominican University Fashion show and once again came away with the Up and Coming Designer of the year award.
Included in that fashion show were three traditional Danube Swabian special occasion dresses, or Donauschwaben trachten. Those three pieces were part of an independent study project she conducted to learn more about the cultural dress of her heritage and learn the construction techniques used to create the dresses. This knowledge became very useful when she took on a large project, creating the new trachten for the American Aid Society of German Descendants Jugendgruppe.
Since 1990, Erika has been a member of the American Aid Society of German Descendants. In 2001, when she joined the Jugendgruppe, she knew she had found her home. Being of Donauschwaben descent, she felt a strong connection with the people involved and the culture behind the organization. With this in mind, it was not surprising that when there was need for someone to take over as the cultural dress coordinator, Erika was ready to step up. For the 2008 competition in Cleveland, Ohio, Erika designed, created, and organized all of the 13 traditional trachten for the event. With the new trachten, a dedicated group of performers and a lot of energy, the AAS Jugendgruppe won first place prize at the Trachtenfest.
In 2009, Erika won first place in the AATCC 2009 C2C®/CITDA Design Competition for product design with her collection of maternity wear entitled Footsteps. As part of the prize, Erika was sent to Goa, India to represent the United States with her line and compete at an international level. The experience with the nine other finalists from around the globe was irreplaceable. Also that year, Erika graduated with a bachelor’s degree with distinction in fashion design from Dominican University and decided to continue studying fashion in Paris, France over the summer. In Paris, she learned multiple couture techniques and learned more about fashion and cultural dress.
So what inspires Erika and her designs? “I am influenced by a variety of things from world history and current events, to artwork and nature. I am inspired by others who stand up for their beliefs and use their art as replacements for their words, such as Marcel Duchamp, Käthe Kollwitz and British graffiti artist, Banksy. My travels also greatly influence my work. Cultural dress and traditional textiles from around the world help me to have a better understanding of my surroundings. My education at Dominican University has taught me the value of quality workmanship as well as given me the confidence and understanding that I can make a difference in not only the fashion industry but also in the society in which I live.”
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