Cecilia Frittelli Lockwood '80 is weaving success
Weaving on a vintage multi-harness loom, master textile artist Cecilia Frittelli ’80
rattles off the characteristics of the various types of natural fibers she uses —
including hemp, cotton, linen, silk, soy, bamboo, and alpaca wool — to create the
contemporary textiles that have been her life’s work for 35 years.
Frittelli and her husband, Richard Lockwood, operate a thriving clothing and accessory
business under the Frittelli & Lockwood label at the , located in downtown Saratoga Springs’ . At the studio, guests can see them at work and buy their handwoven wares, including
scarves, wraps, bags, hats, neck ties, and shirts in a vibrant array of colors and
patterns. Their textiles are also found across the country at trade shows, craft fairs,
wearable art galleries, and clothing boutiques.
Frittelli was first drawn to weaving as a middle school student engaged in a research
project on Indonesia, when she saw a picture of a woman using a backstrap loom. Composed
of a few sticks and strings, the portable loom works through the tension of the weaver’s
body. One of the oldest forms of weaving spanning millennia, it is still used in regions
around the world. Frittelli, with her father’s help, made her own backstrap loom out
of popsicle sticks.
“I used that loom a lot,” Frittelli says with a chuckle before pulling it out from
a corner of the studio. She adds, “I keep it here at the studio to remind myself of
my humble beginnings.”
At Skidmore, Frittelli majored in with an eye on scenic design. She also spent many hours at the weaving studio in
Griffiths Hall on the old campus. One professor who influenced her artistic direction
was fiber artist Eunice Pardon, who taught at Skidmore for 35 years.
“She was so much in the art realm. It just blew my mind that when she sat down at
the loom, she didn’t think about weaving a scarf or placemat. It was always the expectation
that she was going to make an art piece to hang in a museum.”
Frittelli began her career as a costume designer for off-Broadway shows in New York
City before entering the bustling Garment District. After she met her husband, who
had worked as a teenager in the New England textile mills, the two started their business
as a part-time endeavor. When the textile factories upgraded their equipment and technology
to remain competitive in a rapidly expanding global market, they acquired five Macomber
looms, built in the 1970s and 1980s, that they still use today. In 1990, they set
up a full-time artisan studio in Crown Point in the Adirondacks before relocating
to Saratoga Springs.
A passionate advocate for the arts, Frittelli has been a familiar face at Skidmore
for years, offering her entrepreneurial expertise and mentorship to students across
campus. She has served on discussion panels for the Theater Department and as a judge
for the Kenneth A. Freirich Entrepreneurship Competition, and her textiles have been
showcased in art exhibitions at the Tang Teaching Museum and Art Gallery.
She has hosted field trips for classes taught by Michael Ennis-MacMillan, associate
professor of anthropology, and Sang-Wook Lee, the Ella Van Dyke Tuthill '32 Chair
in Studio Art, to enable students to experience her studio firsthand and to learn
about the greater West Side Historic District.
“Cecilia’s dedication to her craft and her willingness to share her knowledge have made a lasting impact on our students,” says Lee, who notes that Frittelli has also participated in critiques for his advanced fiber arts classes.
Morgan Rougeau Panich ’08, whose own story is woven from a rich tapestry of family
heritage and artistic talent, was one of many Skidmore students who have interned
at the Textile Studio. Growing up in a creative household, Panich was introduced to
the arts by her mother, a graphic artist, and her great-great-aunts, who passed down
their love for knitting, sewing, and quilting.
“I had a small group of close fiber arts friends, and we pretty much lived in the
fiber arts studio on campus,” Panich says. “On a Friday night, you could find us there
with music blaring, pizza on the table, good conversation, looms clacking, and so
much creativity in the air.”
Panich met Frittelli during a guest lecture in a fiber arts class. “I was hooked,”
Panich says. After college, she briefly moved to San Francisco before returning to
the Saratoga area in 2010, when she began working for Frittelli as a key member of
the studio team until 2014. She now has her own online textile shop, .
“The one thing I miss most about my time at college, and also at the Textile Studio,”
Panich says, “is the community — bouncing ideas off of each other, creating together.”