Thaís Cipolletta is a Brazilian Luxury Leather Goods Designer based in London, with expertise in handbags, both in design and craftsmanship. She has over 15 years of experience in the Fashion Industry, having worked previously as a Womenswear Fashion Designer and is one of the Co-Founders of the luxury aftercare platform The Restory. With outstanding attention to detail and a problem-solver at heart, she is a sustainability and circular fashion advocate and always looks for new ways to connect the consumer and the product, with a particular focus on Craftsmanship and Heritage. Since the beginning of her career, Thaís has had a particular interest in creating new techniques and connecting to the design and process on a deeper emotional level, which was highlighted during her Master's at LCF and the Sustainability program with the luxury group Kering and LCF. Thaís is a trailblazer in the aftercare industry with her work at The Restory, inspiring brands, artisans, and customers to view repair as a desirable luxury experience and to reconnect with their loved items, giving them a chance of longevity. "Through repair, customers reconnect emotionally with their items, which incentivizes buying better in the future." Thaís Cipolletta, expert contributor to the book Circular Design Guide for Fashion, from Ellen McArthur Foundation
Developed the renowned luxury restoration techniques and training we are known for today to then build a team of talented artisans, overseeing production, innovation, quality, sourcing, creating structure and processes. Responsible for the commercial strategy for the atelier, planning and forecasting, processes that inform and help build our tech platforms together with our tech team, continuous improvement, overseeing trade partners and internal team of artisans, developing new services and analysing our services together with finance and business development team. Collaborating with the community of Fashion and Craftsmanship, especially with brands and Sustainability and Circular Fashion institutions ACHIEVEMENTS • PR press magazine contributions such as Elle, Vogue, Tatler, WOTC • 2021 – Contributed as an expert to the publication ‘The Circular Design for Fashion’ from the Ellen Mc Arthur Foundation • 2020 - LVMH - La Maison des Start-ups: 6-month accelerator programme supporting innovative start-ups • 2019 - Walpole - 'Brand of Tomorrow' programme to support British Luxury Brands • 2018 - Farfetch - 'Dream Assembly' 3-month incubator accelerator programme (Lisbon-Porto-London) Show less
• Developed the unique restoration, re-design, repair, cleaning, personalization, and the creative sourcing techniques the company is renowned for, generating business opportunities that account for 65% of the company’s revenue. • Ensure the highest level of craftsmanship and quality in all services executed at The Restory • Problem-solving approach to design solutions for customer’s items that require repair, re-design, or care. • Created a proprietary Restoration Training Programme where we developed 40+ Artisans and a digital library of colour recipes, luxury materials, patterns, and data from every item restored by the team (24K+ items). • Lead the Atelier operations, commercial strategy, training, repairs production (30+ artisans) external partners, design techniques R&D and quality standards. • Manage Efficiency throughout the operations by re-designing processes, identifying machinery, new strategies and developing user friendly tech solutions. • Seasonal Sourcing trips to Italy and France dealing with premium material suppliers. Developed bespoke materials. • Work in partnership with brands consulting on design solutions and new materials testing to improve Sustainability and Circularity. Ex: Manolo Blahnik. • Curated Hero Services together with MKT, BI Analyst by analysing demand and productivity data to define our top sales and redefine pricing strategy. Show less
Design through making. Collection of handbags that was designed by cross-skilling leather craftsmanship with womenswear pattern cutting techniques. Hardware (locks, frames, handles) all made by me using walnut and Scottish horn cut into laser cut machine and plugged with leather. Linings screen printed exclusively.
• Designed, prototyped, and produced handbag and leather accessories • Dealt with clients, suppliers and attended product development meetings • Prototyped using leather craftsmanship skills: wet moulding, hand stitching, machine stitching, skiving, plugging, upholstery, box work. • Clients: J.W. Anderson, Sophia Webster, Yuzefi, Giles Deacon, Mulberry upholstery, Bottletop, Claire Barrow, Mormo
• Designed a top seller Casual Shirts line and a Resort line within the Woven’s department, working closely to the founder. • Conducted product development meetings, liaising with pattern makers, sample makers, suppliers, and production team. • Developed bespoke haberdashery, hardware, buttons, prints, embroidery, and hand dyeing techniques • Researched upcoming global fashion, colour, and lifestyle trends, translating them into the brand’s style and budget • Produced technical drawings, specifying materials, costs, and instructions • Reported sale scores, accompanied customer’s feedback, presented new collections, and trained retailers during new season launch presentations, both wholesale an in-store sales team. • Designed a casual leather footwear collection- conception, spec sheets, materials, samples, and production. • Actively participated in the repositioning of the brand in the market. Show less
• Designed and developed women’s leather handbags, created concept and mood boards, produced spec sheets. • Sourced leather, materials and developed bespoke hardware for the bags (metal with resin). • Established selling points across São Paulo, Brazil • Developed the brand’s identity and created marketing content
• Designed and developed womenswear for brands such as Calvin Klein, Zara, Gloria Coelho, Le Lis Blanc, Daslu, Bob Store. • Produced trend mood boards, spec sheets, sourced material, assessed samples and conducted fittings.
• Produced mood boards with design concepts, material experiments and sketches to the director, designers, and merchandisers. • Sourced new suppliers and materials, produced technical drawings, and followed sampling and production closely.