DESIGNER'S NOTE - MEET GRACIELA

"My mission is to give my contribution to save animals from the fashion industry by creating unique vegan bags with the distinctive craftsmanship quality of Florence. A quite challenge, I would say, in this Extraordinary Renaissance City well known for holding a reputation for animal leather production for hundreds of years."

Hello there! I'm Graciela, Co-Founder & Creative mind behind Pitti Vintage and this is my story.

Drawn to beautiful and interesting clothing from an early age, I studied Fashion in Mexico City, where I was born and raised. Looking to expand my horizons, I moved to New York City to study Fashion Design, draping techniques, patternmaking, beading on fabric, and Haute Couture at the Parsons School of Art & Design and at The Fashion Institute of Technology.

What initially began as a vintage shop in Oltrarno Florence, Pitti Vintage has expanded to the Cruelty-free handbag world, designing vegan leather bags with bright color combinations. My styles range from totes, cross-body bags, shoulder bags, wallets, and accessories for conscious women who want less animal cruelty and more environment care without compromising their style.

My vegan leather bags are handmade in the Renaissance City of Florence, a city based on centuries of artisan culture, traditions, and skills. Being part of this priceless heritage has a lot of responsibility. Every single piece is designed and carefully handmade by me with so much passion, joy, and precision, the three most important attributes of the beauty of handmade products.

MATERIAL

Since I love and respect animals I'm committed to using 100% vegan and cruelty-free materials. My products are free of animals. I use a variety of alternatives in my construction such as polyurethane-coated cotton canvas, organic cotton upholstery fabrics, and recycled paperboard for inner construction.

All of the outer body materials contain plastic. While this is not a 100% eco-friendly alternative, it is a highly sustainable approach to replace the use of leather. The use of animal leather in the fashion Industry emits 88kg of our greenhouse gas pollution. Not to mention the pollution of our fresh water resources from harmful chemicals and the blood of the animals washed off into rivers from leather production. Nearly 90% of the people involved in leather production die from some sort of cancer due to chemicals and inks being absorbed into their skins. The plastic industry causes a fraction of the harm between the two options to mankind.

If you happen to be in Florence visit the FAF Contemporary Gallery and Shop -Borgo San Frediano 131r, Firenze, where you can find my Vegan Bags and Wallets along with other beautiful products of other talented female designers and artisans from all over the world.

I donate 10% of my sales to the Human Society International Organization to save animals in Ukraine. Read here.

I’ve been featured on HuffPost as one of the 13 vegan brands that are good for your conscience and your wallet. Read the article here.

THE VEGAN ERA

A few years ago, on a sunny spring day in 2011, one of the most wonderful things happened: My husband and I rescued two adorable dogs from Puglia. This new addition to our lives absolutely thrilled us! and we started to be very sensitive to animals.

Then I designed a bag for myself but I didn't want to use animal leather -after the poor conditions of our dogs before the adoption- I did some research and I found this great Italian quality vegan leather to make my bag.

So I designed and introduced a modest collection of 6 handmade vegan leather bags and started selling online. The great response I had from the vegan community from all over the world was really unexpected and super exciting! That was the moment to start giving my small contribution to saving animals from the fashion industry using non-leather alternatives.

WELCOME TO MY STUDIO IN FLORENCE ITALY

I am a happy Mexican girl living in Italy for the last 15 years and I'm honored to be part of the Made in Italy. My vegan leather bags are handmade in the Rennaicence city of Florence based on centuries of artisan culture, traditions, and skills. Being part of this priceless heritage has a lot of responsibility, my priority is to save animals from the fashion industry by offering quality vegan products and personal service. Every single piece is designed and carefully handmade by me with so much passion, joy, and precision, the three most important attributes of the beauty of handmade products.