My white shopper in ostrich leather with red heart handle was selected to represent the best design of a leather product in 2011 in the exhibit called Mestieri d’Autore. The exhibition was organized in Palazzo Pubblico in Siena. A beautiful and outstanding architectural examples of a medieval government building, now partly a museum.

The products selected for the exhibition had to be in various materials each representing a category such as glass, leather, metals, fabrics and many more. The main characteristics for the selection were beauty in design and a 100 percent handcraft made in Italy. So design with an “author” and handcraft with the oldest Italian traditions in the Tuscan area. Amongst the judges in this selection were Prof. Duccio Balestracci – a world famous art historian.

I was honored to be part of this and the reaction of the public to the bag was amazing. The exhibition was fully booked for every single day and visited by people from all over the world.

Tuscany is well known in the world for the production of the best red wines and the best leather hand made accessories. Both are old treasures passed from one generation to another. Here wine producers and fashion designers and producers know each other, are friends and are teaching their young ones the art of hand made crafting.

At a Romana Correale event, guests as Giacomo Neri, producer of the best Brunello in the world (on wine spectator he was number one not long ago) and Vincenzo Abbruzzese, Francesca says “we Are all friends. Our kids play together.

We have great respect for this region and we are very concerned for the future of this country. We know that Tuscany is the leading region for many products. While we have our events and parties we speak about the important decisions, the government, the world, about everything. But we also meet people that work for different fashion companies, brands and designers. Tuscany is the land were companies like Prada, Ferragamo, Gucci and Romana Correale were born. Francesca says ” here in Tuscany we don’t only make “italian bags”. The leather districts here are famous worldwide and we need to protect our small producers. Even if they are very expensive they are amazing. We have to manage to resolve all the bureaucratic problems and the government has to support us and be flexible in a region where we have been producing for years amongst the most wanted and luxurious products in stores today.”

Francesca ends by saying “we have the honor of living in the region were Leonardo Da Vinci was born and where art, culture, science and poetry was “everyday bread”. We should have respect for our past, look up to it and work for our future to be as brilliant. To do so we need our government and society to work together for the best to come. Collaboration, honesty and intelligence are the tools for great ideas to grow.”

In Photos Francesca Romana Correale with Giacomo Neri, Vincenzo Abbruzzese and wifes. Giulio and Giulia Brini manager Prada. Letizia Fusi manager at Gucci. Sister and daughter Paola and Iris. And many others…

When I designed this bag i did it for myself. It was not supposed to be part of the Le Forme collection. The color, the material and its form was chosen only with the purpose of fulfilling my own needs and my own taste. Strangely enough it has been the best seller of the entire collection.

This bag is easy to carry thanks to the long shoulder strap. It is incredibly soft. In the inside it´s made of jeans and there are many many pockets. I put my iPad and my iPhone and other important things in the big pocket. There are two more pockets for pens, pencils, sunglasses, baby stuff etc.

I love this bag because i can wear it all day and also take it to a party right after work. It´s used and liked by both men and women. It´s unisex and cool. It´s elegant and practical. At the end I am happy I decided to add it to the Le Forme collection. It´s the most loved bag of all of them!