I've been a very well known Brazilian fashion designer since 1974. I launched the national brands Alice Tapajós and Ateen, and managed, during 30 years, a network of 11 stores, leading an organization of more than 200 employees. The label Alice Tapajós won prizes around the world, exported to Barney's (NY and Japan), Giorgio Armani and Emporio Armani Venice. It has also been chosen to represent Donna Karan, and other well-known international brands in Brazil. Handbags have always been a passion and in 2005 when I decided it was time for a new challenge. That’s when I launched Zibba and started dedicating my time exclusively to handbags. Zibba is an indigenous word that evokes creativity, which mixed with style, moves my life. Today, Zibba is selling to the best luxury stores around Brazil.

At Zibba we've been working with top quality leather, which is not tanned with aniline and therefore has a very special touch. Our supplier also sells to Louis Vuitton. We use not only a wide palette of colors but also the leather in its natural form, which makes every piece very unique. Zibba also works with other noble and exotic materials, such as metallic python, and all kinds of different textures. We combine these materials with an exclusive and fine hardware line, in a very contemporary and sophisticated way, which mixes Rio de Janeiro’s beach and street style with international trends. Inspiration comes from all kinds of sources and the result is a unique desirable product. We focus in the high-end market, which values our combination of exclusivity, creativity, style, finishing and durability.

My story with handbags has started long ago. In 1989 I was the only Brazilian brand invited to participate in an international exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of NY, together with other conceptualized American and European brands, in which I presented my line of Tricot bags. They were an amazing success around the world and I always had in mind that someday I would like to dedicate my time to this market. After the worldly "IT BAG BOOM" I decided it was time to have a Brazilian “IT BAG line” to all new bag addicts and also to sophisticated ordinary people. We began in January 2005 and 6 months later we were introduced to an important wholesale showroom in São Paulo, which started distributing our products to the most luxury stores throughout Brazil.

I believe that fashion is an instrument that socializes and indicates the options of groups of people. It is a fantasy that mirrors the desires of how people see themselves in the world. My work is to create style focused on a particular group through a constant exercise of daring, experiencing and making personal bets. This is what I have been doing throughout my career -- creating more than just products, with quality, consistency, creativity and coherence. I want Zibba to become internationally known as a casual sophisticated choice.

Sincerely I can’t remember any nightmares. I know I probably sound just like a mom thinking about her happy child. I guess any nightmare is automatically forgotten as soon as the collection is ready and good to go!  I believe in life we experience a succession of cycles in both our personal and professional lives. Each cycle that opens up represents a chance to combine experience and results from the past, with interests and future beliefs. I am now in the beginning of a new cycle and the challenge moves me every single morning.  This cycle gives me the opportunity to enjoy, with maturity, the skills I acquired and developed during so many years in the market. In other words, make fashion, with fullness. It’s a great adventure to start the process of building a successful label, all over again. Each achievement along the way, makes it all worth it.