Gioa Picciurro is a young designer from Palermo born on December 3, 1994 trained at the Academy of Fine Arts in Palermo. Always passionate about art, she thus began her artistic training path and obtained a master’s degree at the Fashion Design course in 2019.
Already in August 2018, still a student, her official website www.gioafashiondesigner.com was online and she participates at the international event “International Fashion Week” in Reggio Calabria.

In February 2019 GIOA participates in the largest international leather and fashion accessory fair “Mipel 115 the bag show” in Milan Rho as an exhibitor with assignment of scenario stands with the first collection, “Baglass”.
In May 2019 participated in the charity fashion show “Kalo’n” as a sponsor and in June at the “Connext Sicilia-Mondello” and “Torino Fashion Match” events as a Sicindustria associate.

The first prototypes include the smerlata bag and the butterfly bag, which were born in 2016, made of canvas and eco-leather.
The production of GIOA accessories began in 2018, sinking its roots in the Sicilian cultural tradition, creating products with an innovative and high quality design and for this purpose it makes use of artisan workshops with high experience and professionalism, using precious materials.
All this has contributed to making GIOA’s Bags become a symbol of excellence of Made in Sicily in a short time.

With a strong DNA, inspired by the world of nature with bright and contrasting colors, its two collections are launched: “Baglass Collection” consisting of five models – smerlata bag, belt bag, baguette bag, round bag, bauletto bag – and “Lucky Charm Collection”, with four models – butterfly bag, dragonfly bag, ladybug bag, scarabag backpack -.

Ph: Massimo Ragusa – Emmerrestudio

How was your passion for bags born?
I am a creative person, strongly lover of art. My passion for bags was born at the Academy of Fine Arts in Palermo where, during my studies, I believed in myself and in my abilities that led me to the creation of my brand.

How was your first collection born?
My first collection of bags, Baglass, was born following an in-depth study of Art Nouveau style and its architectural examples in the city of Palermo.
The term Baglass represents the union of the words BAG and GLASS, to highlight the reference to the artistic stained glass of Palermo’s historical villas that can be found in the silk-screen printing, in the shapes and the colors of the bags.

Have you ever thought about making other accessories, maybe they can expand your collections?
I have some projects that I hope to realize in the future, concerning the small leather goods or other fashion accessories such as foulards and hats.

Where does the inspiration for the world of insects come from?
My second collection, called Lucky Charm, was born from a wonderful butterfly that came to me, almost imposing itself on my attention and telling me to create some models of bags starring it and other lucky bugs.

What is your target?
The GIOA brand was created to give security and character to women who love to stand out in the society with original and colorful accessories, that make their outfits unique giving a touch of elegance and glamour.

If you had to define your collections in three adjectives, how would you define them? Why?
The adjectives that best describe my products are: ORIGINAL, because they have an innovative and captivating design; CRAFTSMANSHIP, because they combine the quality of made in Italy materials and the experience in the processing performed by skilled Italian artisans; TIMELESS because the bags are not placed in any temporal sphere but they constitute a combination between past with the tradition and future with the innovation.

www.gioafashiondesigner.com