Issue 05

For the family of six behind Le Sorelle (the sisters), a retail store and design bottega in Tuscany, there is always plenty of beautiful tableware and accessories to choose from when setting the family table.  The two parents and four daughters who work together in the business, make a variety of objects for the home such as terracotta bread warmers, ceramic plates, glass jugs and hand printed tablecloths.

Despite the local nature of their operations, internationally they have developed a reputation for their hard-to-pronounce paper bags. Le Sorelle’s UASHMAMA (pronounced wash-mama), is a series of paper bags that are used to decoratively contain things like bread, herbs, tomatoes, citrus fruits, plants and cutlery.

For Marco, Emanuela, Chiara, Giulia, Gemma and Gaia, design has been a family affair for generations. “My grandfather owned a women’s shoe factory in Tuscany and my father worked by his side for many years where he learned about materials, colours and product design. 20 years ago, my parents decided to start something new” says Giulia, one of the four sisters. In 1994, Emanuela Sarti (Giulia’s mother) opened a small home décor and fashion accessories store in the historic square of Montecatini Alto. She had a strong desire to produce the objects herself and enlisted the design and manufacturing expertise of her husband to create the merchandise.

Later on, in an effort to bridge traditional manufacturing methods with technological innovation, Marco developed the idea for the washable cellulose fiber material used to make UASHMAMA bags. With the success of their growing product lines, the family opened three more Le Sorelle shops, two in Tuscany, and most recently, a fourth store in Florence close to the Ponte Vecchio.

Photo Source: Le Sorelle