ABOUT KRATER

KRATER is a nonprofit cultural platform providing free support and visibility to historically underrepresented artists and designers. Founded in 2023 with support from Creatives Rebuild New York, we have presented 30+ queer, BIPOC, women-identifying, and Latinx/é multidisciplinary designers and artists from 10+ countries through events during New York Fashion Week.

We create space for artists working at intersections of fashion, performance, and social practice, with focused commitment to Latin American creators. By eliminating financial barriers and providing professional production support, we empower emerging artists who are usually excluded from mainstream fashion platforms.

KRATER is evolving from event-based programming to year-round cultural support, building sustainable infrastructure for underrepresented creative communities across New York City and Latin America.

We received 501(c)(3) nonprofit status in December 2025.

VISION

To build a global platform where fashion, performance, and multidisciplinary art drive cultural transformation through innovation, inclusivity, and sustainable practices.

MISSION

To empower emerging designers and artists by providing free, accessible platforms where they can express their authentic selves, collaborate across disciplines, and connect with diverse audiences. We break down financial barriers, promote sustainable practices, and build vibrant creative communities that transform culture through collective action.

OUR IMPACT

Since 2023, KRATER has:

- Supported 30+ designers and artists from 10+ countries

- Presented 4 New York Fashion Week events

- Reached 250+ attendees per event

- Achieved 100% direct sales at pop-up markets

- Featured in Vogue, Harper's Bazaar, PAPER Magazine, and major publications

- Centered queer, BIPOC, immigrant, and Latinx/é creative communities

- Brought designers from Argentina, Mexico, Colombia, and throughout Latin America to show in New York City for the first time

WHAT DESIGNERS SAY

  • "KRATER didn't just give me a space to show my work. It gave me a platform to tell my story the way I wanted to. It was a runway, a performance, and a community all in one."

    — Sarah Wondrack, NYC-based Artist

  • "KRATER gave me a space to show my work in New York, something I never thought would be possible as a Colombian designer without a big budget."

    — Sara Peláez, Founder of La Bloom (Colombia)

  • "KRATER is more than a show. It's a space where artists who are usually overlooked finally get to be seen. For designers like me, especially as an immigrant, this kind of platform changes everything."

    — Sabrina Aguirre, Founder of AGUIRRRRE (Mexico City)

  • "There's nowhere else like KRATER.

    Most fashion platforms are financially out of reach, but KRATER gave me a professional, high-production experience for free."

    — Rebecca Richards, Founder of The Web Has No Weaver (Louisville, KY)

MEET THE FOUNDER

Giselle Manzano Ramirez is a Colombian interdisciplinary artist and cultural worker leading transformational work across two organizations.

As Founder and Executive Director of KRATER, she created a nonprofit platform supporting 30+ queer, BIPOC, women-identifying, and Latinx/é multidisciplinary designers and artists from 10+ countries through free access during New York Fashion Week.

As the first Latina immigrant in director-level leadership at Hudson Valley LGBTQ+ Community Center, she is developing inaugural cultural programming and comprehensive engagement strategies to build intersectional sanctuary for historically excluded communities. Her artistic practice explores transgenerational healing and collective memory through experimental textiles, fashion, and healing-centered placemaking.

In 2022, Giselle was awarded support through Creatives Rebuild New York, a historic program providing guaranteed income to artists helping to rebuild New York's cultural ecosystem after the pandemic. This support allowed her to launch KRATER and lay the foundation for its growth.

"Guaranteed income not only supported my artistic practice, but also allowed me to build KRATER, a platform fostering inclusivity, creative innovation, and cultural transformation within the arts."

WHY KRATER?

The ancient Greek krater was a vessel where opposing elements met and transformed: wine and water, artists and philosophers, celebration and contemplation. At symposiums, these vessels held the medium through which communities gathered, ideas sparked, and culture shifted.

We are this vessel. A container for alchemy. Where fashion becomes performance. Where artists become community. Where individual voices converge into collective transformation.

We hold space for what emerges when boundaries dissolve.