From childhood music theory to her first job apprenticing with a master jeweler at the young age of 13, Francesca has been entirely immersed in the world of fine art. Custom goldsmithing & rare gem stones filled her early years. Later on, Francesca spent years in a blade smithing shop, watching master metal skills at work. Francesca had rapidly developed an eye for detail and an appreciation for high end art . At the age of 15 Francesca made her first custom knife, starting with a bar of steel and a block of wood, she forged and filed her way to a fully functional and aesthetically appealing outdoors knife.
Eventually Francesca found her true calling when one of her knife collectors asked her to make a high end custom leather sheath for an art knife he had procured. “I completely failed and had to throw away the sheath at least 3 times. When my concept became reality, and what I saw in my head was here, physically in front of me on the table, that was a life changing moment!”
Francesca has been chasing that creativity induced high she felt in 2014 ever since. Designing custom leather goods out of a variety of exotic leathers – “Often nature is imitated in the modern world, but nothing can truly capture the precise and perfect beauty that comes from natural materials. Each species offers it’s own texture, thickness, durability, pattern, characteristics. It’s the perfect challenge for me”.
Gaining a mastery of how to work with each species of leather takes perseverance, dedication and countless hours in the design studio.
This perseverance to pushing the boundaries of what can be done with leather, led Francesca to be contacted by Aarav Chavda – CEO & Founder of Inversa, a regenerative leather supplier focusing on invasive species such as Lion Fish, which has been decimating fish populations on reefs across the Atlantic ocean. “Working with a leather like Lion Fish provides its own unique challenges, but I can have a part in restoring balance to the natural world and that motivation is unparalleled. The team I work alongside at Inversa, they’re good people and they have goals and ambitions that I resonate with.”
Francesca is an avid outdoorswoman, from gardening, hunting, fishing, hiking, camping, to snowboarding in the winter or surfing, she loves the outdoors and nature. “When I’m not working on leather and designing… I’m outside doing something that is inspiring me to go back home and work on leather and design. It’s this cycle that I go through and it’s very fulfilling. I get to share all these treasures with Olivia, and they’re just out there waiting to be seen and experienced.”
Francesca is a full time Designer and Leather Artisan, specializing in custom sheaths, hand dyeing, and commissioned high end custom projects and consulting for other brands.