Ciao Ciao 👋

Goodbye! Hello! That's exactly the essence of Ciao Ciao, the personal project I am currently (24-7) passionate about (read here: obsessed) about.

Ok...cool Bianca! But what does that mean exactly? It sounds fun but I don't get it!

Let's see: The idea is to use scraps, the Goodbye material to create something new and beautiful, the Hello product!

Ohhhhhh!!! Now I am starting to understand but...I still don't get it..

Right! In other words, as a fashion designer, I was concerned about evolving in this polluting industry and I wanted to make a difference. So I thought, "how can I use the scraps in order to reduce the waste?". That's how Ciao Ciao began. Using the leather scraps to create playful leather patches on accessories and bags.

WOW! What a brilliant idea! But what about Goodbye, Hello? I don't get this part! And why is it in Italian?

Goodbye (Ciao) means all the leather scraps that would end up in the landfill. Hello (Ciao) means all the possibilities I can create with all this raw material. And the Italian name is kind of a tribute to my Italian heritage, which I inherited from my father, Anacleto. Finally, as this project is focused on creating accessories, Ciao Ciao means both Goodbye and Hello: so whether we leave or arrive somewhere, our bag is always with us (insert sparkling sound here).

MIND BLOWING!! WOW! Are you a genius or what??

So, yeah, as you can see, I am talking to myself. But in the meantime, Ciao Ciao is all about creating my own world, living in it and most of all sharing it. So yeah, I am passionate about this project, I love it, it brings me so much fun every day and it gives me so many possibilities and that's what fascinates me the most. That's how I found my purpose in the fashion industry using my creativity without the guilty impression.

Little History

Beside talking on my own, I’ve been studying Arts and Fashion Design and I’ve worked for different fashion brands based in Montreal for the last few years. However, I was never satisfied working for someone else. I needed to do something on my own, something that would scream fun fun fun fun FUUUUN and mostly something that would align with my ethical, sustainable and ecological values. I needed to create MY happiness!

Working with leather or fabrics, I was always uncomfortable throwing away scraps. I constantly thought I could find something useful to do with these. Even when I was younger, I was always trying to find ways to reuse waste by making small crafts. My mother was very artsy. She was always making a lot of DIY with us and I think that’s what developed my imagination.

I was very happy when I started to study Fashion in school because I felt like I had finally found a way to channel my creativity through something tangible. Although, while evolving in this industry, I became conscious that it is the second most polluting industry in the world (😰). At this point, I wasn’t able to just close my eyes on this fact and be part of the problem as a fashion designer. More than 800,000 tons of leather waste is generated annually (1). Knowing that, it was then necessary to find alternative solutions to manufacture accessories and clothing with these available resources. This was a force of innovation and most of it, the perfect opportunity for me to reclaim these residual materials in order to reintroduce them into the chain, and to upcycle them as raw materials. This circular use of the resources is at the core of my design and allows me to maximize the potential of materials that would otherwise be wasted. Thus, the project works in the direction of reducing waste with the mission to “Make goods with scraps".

As a creative person, I love doodling around, creating shapes and drawing faces everywhere (like any normal artist.. right?). So I had the idea of using the leather scraps, which were too small to use to make an accessory, but were the right size to create playful patterns or patches. This way, I create something useful, and reuse what would have been thrown away to make artwork. I fulfill my creative needs with these and it feels good by reducing a lot of what I send to waste.

But finding leather scraps must be laborious?

Actually it's super easy, barely an inconvenience! (2) I contacted a few companies in Montreal that worked with leather, and they were all very happy to find a way to reuse their scraps. There are so many resources here, even only in Montreal. In the future, I would love to set up a way to gather the scraps from a lot of companies.

Even if it takes a lot of time to make an artwork or a playful patch, it’s worth it because the result is so satisfying and unique. I believe Ciao Ciao can change the world, one bag at a time. 😜

What a great, inspiring, stirring, amazing project! So, you speak Italian?

Hum, not quite...But I know how to say Hello (Ciao) and Goodbye (Ciao) ! 👋

On that note, here is a little video where I show you how I make a bucket hat. I hope you enjoyed reading my story and watching this video.Hum, not quite...But I know how to say Hello (Ciao) and Goodbye (Ciao) ! 👋

Here is a little video where I show you how I make a bucket hat. I hope you enjoyed reading my story and you'll like this video.

1. https://leatherfashiondesign.fr
2. Catchphrase of all the Pitch meeting videos, on the Screen Rant YouTube channel.