Serena Imports' Holiday Kickoff

Simply and Elegantly Dressed, with Annalisa Miniutti Over My Shoulder

Many of you know that on my last trip to Italy I spent a day in Rovigo with Italian handbag designer Annalisa Miniutti and her husband Massimo. While there, we decided that it would be great to import a new shipment of leather handbags to the U.S.

The group of bags that we’ve received is varied- tote bags for travel, leather shoulder bags, leather clutch handbags- some casual, others a bit more dressy. And some have chains as handles, reminiscent of the Chanel bags. Because we are direct importers, we are able to showcase designer handbags for less.

We like to keep our color palette simple- black, navy, neutral, off-white. For me, the more simply colored I am dressed and accessorized, the clearer I can think, and the better I can go about my day! That doesn’t mean boring. But I do focus on clean lines, with a bit of an edge, and nothing frilly.

I also feel that quality is key. Your Italian handbag doesn’t have to shout out identifiable logos. In fact nothing about your outfit has to shout out anything. And you don’t have to spend a crazy amount of money. For me, I prefer a quieter sophistication. It’s all in the cut, the fit, and the way you put it all together.

Italian Handbags- A Day at Annalisa Miniutti

We’re back from Italy with lots of stories to tell!

First off, we’d like to share a bit about our wonderful day with Italian handbag designer Annalisa Miniutti and her delightful husband Massimo.

After about an hour’s train ride from Florence, we arrived in Rovigo, which is in the Veneto region of Italy – and Massimo was there to greet us and take us to Lendinara, home of Annalisa Miniutti. It’s a sleepy little town- and much quieter than our home base of Florence- but there’s much activity in the showroom and offices of Annalisa Miniutti.

Annalisa described for me how she creates a collection. Here are some excerpts from our interview-translated from Italian:

“I always have a notebook with me to take notes and to sketch. I look all around me, especially when I travel, to see what people are wearing, the colors, their styles. This gives me ideas for the following season."

“Every year I go to the preview fair in Bologna, to see leather colors, styles of bags and shoes, and I go to Milan to see the fashion shows. After that, I decide what colors would be best as accessories for clothing”.

It was a pleasure to see a young couple working so well together- while Annalisa concentrates on the creative side of the business, which comes so naturally to her, Massimo works on the production side, with lots of work to oversee. Here's Annalisa in her showroom:

There’s more to tell next time!

And here are some photos of Lendinara: