Sharon and Rebeca Tello

Artisan Organization: Sharon and Rebeca Tello

Country: Costa Rica

“Our project was born from the influence of many people: our grandfather and dad worked leather all their lives, and that made my sisters and I grow up surrounded by this beautiful material. Thanks to that we learned to work from an early age. I always enjoyed the manual work enormously, and took every opportunity I had and every material I could find in the house to do small projects. We were also influenced by my maternal grandfather, who is a tailor, and an aunt, who is a seamstress.

“Textiles are another of my great passions, and in fact before thinking about setting up a leather goods business, I started producing handbags and dresses with my sisters. However, very little time passed before we realized that working with leather was what really satisfied us.

“It all started because I would make handbags and sandals from time to time, and this caused some people to start asking me for orders. Every time I realized that I could design and produce items that I liked, that satisfied my creative need and helped me stay afloat. Another of the things that influenced me the most was going to study Plastic Design at the UCR since it allowed me to have clearer guidelines when designing, which gave me more confidence and certainty in what I was doing. Thanks to this I started creating my own designs that allowed me to give my brand personality and originality. Another of the events that led to the creation of the brand was a course at the University that was a general earnings challenge from a creative project. It was thanks to this assignment that I decided to design items for the 2014 Fine Arts Fair.

“This fair was a very good start, since it allowed us to make many contacts and start marketing my products in stores. After a while I realized that I could not cope with the production, and this in turn allowed me to fulfill another of my dreams: to generate work for other people.

“After many fairs (some very good, and others not so much) I realized that I have the best job I could wish for, because although it is difficult and involves a lot of economic risk, I can share my ideas and designs, generate jobs, and live from what I love.”"