couture+love+madness designer: Let’s talk about endometriosis

Fashion designer Cristina Tridente says we need to start having conversations with teenage girls about a silent disease.

When Cristina Tridente was diagnosed endometriosis at 18 she had not even heard of the disease.

That was 16 years ago and now the leading designer, who is the founder of couture+love+madness, wants to make sure every teenage girls knows its symptoms and risks.

Ms Tridente is sharing her experience and calling for changes to health curriculum in schools this March which is Endometriosis Awareness Month.

Endometriosis is a debilitating and painful disease that can damage fertility; it affects one in seven Australian women, girls and those assigned females at birth, according to Endometriosis Australia.

Yellow Wiggle Emma Watkins, who also has talked about her battle with endometriosis, wore couture+love+madness to the Logie Awards in 2022. Picture: Josh Woning

Cristina Tridente at couture+love+madness, Norwood. Picture: Keryn Stevens

But Ms Tridente had no idea she was rushed to the emergency department at Queen Elizabeth Hospital.

“When I was 18 I had bad abdominal pain, which turned out to be quite a large ovarian cyst the size of a tennis ball,” she said.

“I actually thought it was my appendix and I thought it was going to burst.”

It turned out Ms Tridente, who is turning 35 in July, had endometriosis.

When TAFE SA fashion graduate Cristina Tridente was starting out in her career as a designer she was living with the ‘silent disease’ endometriosis. Picture: Andrea Laube.

Cristina Tridente and her fiance Petar Filipovic got engaged at Disneyland Japan in 2023. Picture: Supplied

“I had no idea what it was,” she said, adding she had experienced symptoms such as extremely painful periods: “I guess I’d been suffering for quite a while and just kind of thought it was normal. It’s not like I knew any different. So you kind of just go along with it, but the longer you go without treatment, it can cause infertility.”

Ms Tridente will be an “endo warrior” speaker at Sofitel Adelaide’s high tea fundraiser for Endometriosis Australia on Sunday, March 24.

Cristina Tridente’s couture+love+madness clients have included Governor of South Australia Frances Adamson. Picture: Keryn Stevens

She is determined to not only raise awareness, but get people talking about endometriosis.

“I think it’s a really important conversation to start early, given how common it is,” she said.

“It’s such a common disease. So let’s get talking about it. It’s not something to be ashamed of. It’s just something that happens to women.

“Women go through all sorts of different illnesses and this one is a silent disease that a lot of people wouldn’t know that they had.”

couture+love+madness founder Cristina Tridente at her Norwood boutique and studio. Picture: Keryn Stevens

Ms Tridente stressed it was also important that teachers educate their students about endometriosis.

“We go through sexual health (education) in high school and are taught how not to get pregnant,” she said, adding: “There’s a lot of information on that which is great, but girls should be made aware of the effects endometriosis can have and that the earlier you can get treatment, the better you will be in the long term,

“There needs to be more education in general about this disease that can have such a long-term impact, but is a silent.”

Tickets to Sofitel Adelaide’s high tea for Endometriosis Australia are available from @sofitel.adelaide on Instagram

Originally published as couture+love+madness designer: Let’s talk about endometriosis