From an early age, New Jersey-born artist and designer Rebecca Moses felt the magnetic pull of creative expression. “Since I was a young girl, I was drawn to things that stimulated the eye,” she recalls.
Classic Hollywood films of the 1930s and ’40s sparked her imagination, igniting a lifelong passion for fashion, storytelling, and the emotive power of visual design. By 14, she knew she wanted to be a fashion designer and enrolled at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York two years later, setting in motion a career defined by ambition and artistry.
At 21, Moses launched her own label, joining a wave of young talent that included contemporaries like Michael Kors. In 1991, a shift came when she met luxury yarn supplier Giacomo Festa Bianchet, who would later become her husband. She moved to Italy and, though far from familiar territory, remained deeply committed to her craft. “The creative process is ongoing—even if you don’t have the project,” she says. Her sketchbooks overflowed with ideas.
That momentum led to a breakthrough. After a visit from longtime friend Joyce Ma, founder of Hong Kong’s Joyce boutiques, Moses was introduced to Italian fashion house Genny. She was soon named creative director, succeeding Gianni Versace. During that time, she also launched a colorful cashmere line under her own name in 1997.
She was then tapped to reinvent Pineider, the luxury heritage Italian brand known for its stationary and leather goods, where she helped develop more than 500 products. “Anna Wintour walked into the first shop I opened for them, and she put it in [Vogue]. From there, I was advising companies on color,” she says.
Following the loss of her husband, Moses returned to New York with her two sons. With encouragement from Vogue Italia’s Franca Sozzani, she embraced a new chapter, focusing on illustration and narrative through visual art. It led to collaborations with brands like Vogue Italia, MAC Cosmetics, and Vera Wang, among others.
The Queens Montage wallcovering pattern, available in five colorways
Her latest venture is a debut collection with Momentum Textiles & Wallcovering, born from a serendipitous meeting with chief marketing and creative officer Jennifer Nye. “The idea of developing wallcoverings was fascinating to me,” Moses says. “I wanted to create an experience through art and material that had to do more than just look good—it had to tell a story.”
Working closely with Momentum’s team, she reimagined her signature portraits as richly layered pieces, each wallcovering a hidden world unto itself. Patterns like Portrait Gallery and Take a Seat—a playful array of brightly colored chairs—for instance, place her illustrations front and center. Flexibility was central to her 10-print collection as well, with multiple scales and colorways built to adapt to mood, tone, and context. “I’m not dictating,” she says. “I’m giving designers and architects tools for a narrative.”
For Moses, creativity is a lifelong calling. “The worst thing you can do is what you did yesterday,” she says. “It’s a new day with new challenges and new growth. You have to keep growing. What I do is not a job—it’s a way of life. I am a creative. I will work until I die, and that’s a privilege.”
This article originally appeared in HD’s May/June 2025 issue.
