OUR STORY

HI! I’m Cassandra Kane

the founder and designer of sieme

I’ve been a creative all my life and spent almost a decade designing luxury ready-to-wear, leather and fur, outerwear and eveningwear for designer brands in New York. In 2017 I followed my heart to Florence, Italy to learn the art of Italian handbags alongside the best artisans in the world. However, while working here, I saw the incredible amount of waste generated even at the luxury level across the fashion industry. Working in factories, I have seen as much as 50% of leather discarded during the production process in pursuit of identical perfection. I couldn’t look away any longer and knew I needed to be part of the solution! This realization inspired me to spend the past 2 years building a system to collect and repurpose leather “excess” in Italy. Now, I have finally launched Sieme, an accessories brand founded to support local artisans and repurpose leather excess into beautiful accessories so that we can ALL feel good about fashion again.

What it means to support artisans

I am fascinated by the process in which we make our fashion. Working with artisans inspired me to pick up my life and move to Italy. However, continuously industrializing world, that individual artisan culture of small shops and knowledge passed through generations is fading away. I spent almost two years searching throughout Tuscany for a weaving partner to hand weave our leather panels before finding one of the last collectives left in our region. This realization inspired our commitment to work exclusively with artisans and independently owned family run factories for all of our products. I believe artisan made products tell stories; stories of discovery and the connection between you and the makers. When we know who, how and where our favorite products are made, we tend to love them even more.

GIVING BACK

I believe fashion, at it’s best, can support our communities, instead of exploiting them. After starting Sieme, I quickly realized this vision was much bigger than myself. That is why I co-founded Zerolab, the first leather recycling center and sustainable design hub in Italy AND the home of Sieme Brand. Here we work with brands and factories to repurpose excess leather, offer services and workspaces for artisans, provide vocational training for the local leather industry and teach/ advocate for more sustainable production practices. Through Zerolab Firenze, I hope we can nurture and grow not only Sieme but other independent sustainable brands and artisans for the next generation.

MY PROMISE

I founded Sieme to build a better way.

This process begins through cultivating relationships with local family owned manufacturers, rescuing and repurposing the “leftovers” of the most luxury materials in the world and using design and local production to support the community around me.

I cannot promise we will always be perfect, but I know we will always be honest. We will always strive to honor the artisanal history of our adopted home while carving out a more sustaianable future. Every day we will view all parts of our production chain as family, starting and ending with the earth.

Together, We Can Redefine Luxury

Won’t you join us.

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