I am an Italian designer based in Notting Hill, London and Lucca, Tuscany. I embarked on my design career with capsule collections made in raw silk sourced in Yorkshire and made in London. The switch from clothes to handbags come in 2007 when I attended an event organized by the region of Tuscany and the Italian Chamber of Commerce at London Natural History Museum. The Tuscan Consortium of vegetable tanned leather gave a presentation of work philosophy and ethics: its unrivalled organic leather ranges, craftsmen tanners and determination to preserve ancient Italian tradition was a revelation.

At the event I had the chance to meet artisans that used specialized tools dating from Renaissance! You will not find a single sewing machine in their workshop: everything is stitched with a needle and they only use vegetable tanned leather and organic cotton. At the same event I decided to collaborate with one of them, starting with just one bag. A few weeks later I came to New York, to escape the British summer. On my first day I went to Central Park, I sat in the sun and I started sketching. I felt inspired again! MTCentral was born.

My key product is two bags in one with sister laptop and document sections, inlaid by hand with a fine scalpel, hand cut and hand stitched in Italy. Since then I have designed numerous other bags all in vegetable tanned leather, keeping the hardware to a bare minimum. They are all manifactured ethically in Italy and in East London, by handbag makers that have been running a family business for almost five decades.

My handbags are designed to cater today's stilish, ethically conscious women no longer wanting fashion bling - they want to know where their accessories come from, how they are made and what the production values are. Each bag is different, each one is handmade with special techniques and special tools and each of them is unique.

So far I have not had a nightmare story. The only difficult moment, recently, has been when my chief handbag maker fell and broke his right arm and therefore the manufacture of my samples was delayed. But in the end we manage to sort things out. Even if at times running your own design business can be quite lonely and tough, working with the artisans in Italy or the old Handbag Makers in London, and using this wonderful organic leather is all very inspiring and makes every single effort or difficult moment worth it.