This new handbag range donates 10 per cent of profits to mental health charities
Imagery: Kern Studio // @studiokern
Words: Sarah Tarca // @tarca
When you hear the words “Italian” and “luxury” you probably don’t think “affordable”. And you definitely don’t think “philanthropic”, unless you count donating to the Versace’s personal solarium fund a worthy cause. Which is why when the new luxury Italian leather brand, Vestirsi entered the market, we all sat up and took notice – because it manages to be all those things and more.
Disrupting the luxury handbag market wasn’t neccessarily on Vestirsi’s founder, Monica Tarca’s, agenda when she set about creating the brand. She just wanted a quality handbag that you could buy on an assistant’s wage. She says “I created VESTIRSI due to a personal frustration. As hard as I looked, I could not find a chic, minimal quality leather bag for under $300 AUD.” And so, she went and made one – as you do. But her idea wasn’t about “It-bag” shapes or gratuitous logos. It was about the quality, the craftsmanship, and making things that would last. She wanted her customers to buy once, buy well, and have their Vestirsi bag forever. And she wanted to help others along the way too – which is why ten per cent of net profits go to women’s mental health charities. This is just one of the reasons why I was all in, as soon as they launched – and why I’m now the proud owner of a Jilly bag, which also serves as my baby carry-all for all Yuki’s miscellaneous crap.
Though we share a last name, Monica and I aren’t related (at least, we don’t *think*). We first met in my former beauty editing life (she was the PR at Mecca), and we instantly bonded over being the only other Tarca’s we’d ever met, our shared love of the motherland, and the later discovery that our Nonno’s were from the same tiny village in northern Italy. It was evident then that this girl is a powerhouse, and now she’s shaking up an industry that has long taken our money, and giving back while doing it. Amongst running pop-up stores, the crazy Christmas rush, and compiling the 1000-person waitlist for the seell-out Simone bag (that’s her, below), I carved out some time with her to talk about handbags Vestirsi, and the importance of mental health awareness.
Vestirsi Simone bag, $290
You donate ten per cent of net proceeds to mental health charities. WHy what this important to you?
I always wanted VESTIRSI to be more than just another fashion brand. I wanted to work towards something more meaningful than just making more “stuff” for the already crowded consumer market.
Sure, I also wanted to make a beautiful accessory for the modern woman, but I knew that I wanted to support other women whilst creating these products too, because that was so needed – even more than affordable leathergoods.
There are so many worthy women’s charities I could have chosen, but after struggling with mental health as a young teen myself and then losing someone I loved very much to suicide in 2019, there was no doubt in my mind that mental health charities was what I wanted our philanthropic efforts to support.
For 2019, we’ve partnered with Liptember and are donating ten per cent of our net profits to their work which revolves around opening up the conversation around mental health. The more we talk about mental health, the more we can support each other and ultimately prevent deaths.
The woman behind the Vestirsi brand: Monica Tarca
Why do you believe there needs to be a greater focus, and more funds put towards mental health care in Australia?
Of course more funding is desperately needed to prevent the deaths of young people (and all people struggling with their mental health) but it’s not just the funding. We need a bigger and more honest conversation around mental health to remove the damaging taboo that still lingers around the topic. This taboo is outdated, dangerous and serves no one as mental health issues are so prevalent in today’s society. If you don’t struggle, the stats say your mother, sister or best friend does.
“I wanted to work towards something more meaningful than just making more ‘stuff’ for the already crowded consumer market.”
Many of us share a frustration similar to yours… but how did you turn yours into Vestirsi?
I knew the best leather was from Italy (my Nonno and Nonna are from there) so I went on a mission to Italy to find both quality leather (that a smart, modern women deserves in her leather accessories) and the Italian craftsmen (ones that would work with a small Aussie start up with small minimum order quantities!). I just didn’t make sense to me that an Italian-designer-quality leather tote had to cost $3000 (hint: it absolutely doesn’t) so this is what I’ve aimed to provide the Aussie woman, who I knew must be facing the same frustration as me.
What were your non-negotiables when creating Vestirsi?
They had to be real leather. No PU, plastic or “vegan leather” – which to be very clear - is just plastic. They had to be made in Italy, because it’s the home of the world’s finest leather. They needed to be affordable, because the smart modern woman loves chic investment pieces and may want to look good, but she’s also intelligent enough to know she doesn’t have to pay ridiculous markups or overinflated designer prices. And, like I mentioned the brand had to do more, mean more, achieve more. Pay it forward, be better, go further and help other women.
You made the move from PR into creating your own brand. What have been the best part about making that move?
The best thing about doing PR for MECCA was the incredible people I met along the way from the incredible beauty-brand founders (like Francois Nars!), to the amazing CEO ( Jo Horgan), my colleagues – many of who have gone onto create incredible businesses (shout out to Hunter Lab, Ultra Violette, Styled by Louisa Curtis, Christopher Blank Furniture, Viska PR) and of course the incredible beauty editors made each day feel like hanging out with your friends, rather than work.
But there’s nothing quite like creating something you feel is missing form the world, and then using the profits to try to fix a problem that you feel isn’t getting enough funding. To set the “rules”, parameters, objectives and goals exactly as you see fit is incredible. It’s a huge task, but very rewarding.
And what has been the most challenging part?
Pacing myself. I sometimes think: “Once I get ABC and XYZ done, then I’ll have time to get on top of everything.” But that never happens. It doesn’t get easier, slower or quieter. It’s a long road, and it doesn’t stop. So just take one step at a time. Or as my husband says to me when I’m overwhelmed and don’t know where to begin; “How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time.” Knowing this could have probably saved me a lot of time and stress, but you live and you learn. Here’s to 2020 and lots of little “bites!”
What is your advice for women wanting to create a startup like this?
Partner with someone who has a different skillset to you. My husband has a great deal of retail experience which has been invaluable in everything from inventory, planning, logistics, freight, finance and budgets.
