‘5 Questions With’: Kimberly Pucci

When purse and jewelry designer Kimberly Pucci went to Italy in her early twenties, she wanted to study the Italian language. “I studied Italian growing up with Italian grandparents. My goal was to converse with them,” the designer says. Pucci also wanted to become a lawyer but had a minor in Art History. “As a student, once I arrived in Florence, Italy, I couldn’t believe it. Every time I turned around it was sensory overload. Whether it was a smell, taste, or texture,” she exclaims. Her story naturally veered off course.

The well-traveled designer later returned on her own to Italy when the country was living on the lira. “I enrolled in the University of Florence just because I wanted to go to Law school but met this New York artist and wife who was British, and they owned a school called SACI. This artist invited me to work for him. This was my intro to the art world. He needed someone to archive the art and that’s when I started to think outside of the box,” she says.

From there, Pucci highly desired to head into Luxury Auction Houses. “I saved my money and wanted to attend Sotheby’s School in London, but declined to attend one week before the program began. Following that experience, I did a little stint with Ferragamo and Gucci in Italy. I was apprenticing and they couldn’t guarantee more than three months of work.” That’s when the designer took things into her own hands and began banging on the doors of the Ponte Vecchio. “I was hired immediately, and the Piccini family took me under their wing. That is when I fell in love with jewelry,” the designer says.

Jewelry became the designer’s first full-time job and her first-time love affair. “It was completely self-taught from all aspects from design to sales. I took up classes in Florence as well. I started designing things that my clientele was looking for. I started flying all over the world to deliver,” Pucci says.

EQUATE Magazine sat down with the designer extraordinaire Kimberly Pucci to talk about her purse and jewelry line, her experiences in Italy, and how the pandemic is making way for new designers, including herself.

Words By Robert Frezza

EQ: What were your experiences like at Ferragamo and Gucci? Were you intimated at all?

K: Absolutely. It was very intimidating. I came in as an American girl. I could connect with customers and be running a Florentine company. I worked with Ted Kennedy and his wife at the time.

I also worked with one of the most important African kings from Kenya. I crafted a necklace for him that was handwoven. It was very exciting. The important thing of the time about Florence was that we were defining and selling one-off pieces. America had stores that you couldn’t wait to get into Saks or Nieman Marcus. I worked with founders that have now become branded companies. To see that evolution has pushed me in my own brand to see what’s become more important to me. It’s not about the dollar but about the integrity of the brand.

“Every single bag can be masculine or feminine or gender-neutral. It defines how you want to wear luxury—not the brand.”

EQ: Where do you outsource your fabrics for your purse collection?

K: Tuscany. The American client is looking for product that speaks to them. Essentially my friends in Italy are all in luxury goods. The common denominator is that it really evolves around great food and wine. There is such beauty in that. There is such simplicity in breaking bread together.

The tagline ‘Made In Italy’ no longer has that cache. I came to find out they were really producing in Asia and 15 percent of the product was finished in Italy. ‘Made In Tuscany’ goes deeper. I source everything by myself even from the United States—leather, zippers, and diamonds. I’m the new girl on the block and I can’t afford to do anything mediocre. I source leather that is from Tuscany. It’s the only leather tannery that is approved by the United States for sustainability.

I first started out in jewelry, and it manifested into leather goods.

EQ: How functional are your purses and what can women expect from them?

K: Every bag is leather lined. I build for myself. When people ask me who are you designing for. I’m designing for someone like me. It’s chic and stylish. The purses can go to a cocktail party and then it has a shoulder strap as well. It has pockets for cell phones, wallets, and accessories. You could use the purses as a tote bag if you are ever leaving the city.

I’m also creating wider shoulder straps to distribute the weight in the purse a bit more. There’s always an option for the shoulder strap.

You start with a beautiful gemstone, and you create the entire collection around the gemstone. My home collection came into place with one of the boutique hotels in Newport, Rhode Island. We started working on a collection for their suites. It’s a crossover. Things have got less label-driven during the pandemic. My brand is to make it your own and build it upon that.

EQ: Do you have a men’s line?

K: I think all my bags are unisex. I can match any suit or shoe. This time last year no one was out due to the pandemic, so it was tough. Every single bag can be masculine or feminine or gender-neutral. It defines how you want to wear luxury—not the brand.

EQ: Do you have any plans to open a store in NYC?

K: I would love to! I’m just feeling what’s going on in New York City with Covid and where I would open. Prices have gone up and then come down. It’s an interesting moment with my target demographic. I just opened a store in Newport, Rhode Island this past May though.

Keep up with Kimberly Pucci HERE