"The thread tying my first collection in Spring/Summer of 2016 to our current line ten years later, has always been a genuine curiosity about versatility and elevated understatement in style. I started designing for myself in mind, much like many other designers, having trouble finding a bag that I wanted to wear every day that could span being taken to work all the way to socializing with friends later in the evening. Prior to 2016, I was making canvas bags out of my home, working evenings and weekends while maintaining a full-time job at a museum, developing what it was that I wanted to build for myself. After a few years, I became really interested in working with leather, which felt like a more sculptural and durable medium to explore, also a nod to my heritage in Argentina and the incredible leather craftsmanship there.”

"I went to the School of the Art Institute in Chicago for my BFA - I don’t have a formal design background so to speak. I design in the same way that I would make an art piece. I still lean heavily on pencil sketches, graph paper and a lot of erasing – no CAD renderings or digital technology. It's all very personal – me at the table (usually at home) with a cup of tea, piles of reference images and eraser shavings everywhere, my dog coming in to check on me every so often. My hands have touched every piece that has gone out into the world from the studio.”

"The Spring 2016 collection, our first collection, established a design aesthetic that felt cohesive, different than my previous design experimentations, and still has throughlines to my style today. It originally embraced raw edges, a focus on leather and materials that showed signs of wear, that aged as you used it. This, in part, inspired the brand name Are Studio, which uses the plural and present tense of the verb 'to be.' I imagined designing many different types of wearable pieces that were meant to be experienced and lived in, using these items to express oneself in the moment.”

"Time has flown. It’s hard to believe I've now designed 20 collections, even more with exclusives and collaborations. To see and reflect on ten years worth of photo campaigns, collaborations, in person pop-ups, factory visits, close and important friendships made along the way, growing steadily and slowly, always keeping it small and intimate -- I'm really proud of what we've accomplished as a team."