About the Brand
Officina del Poggio is a collection of leather accessories and footwear, founded on the ideals of creating timeless classics with artisanal Italian craftsmanship.
After launching in 2014, ODP quickly gained international recognition, stocked by top retailers such as Barneys New York, Moda Operandi, Goop, Fred Segal, and Rinascente. The classic yet understated styles have been favourites of celebrities and fashion icons such as Gwyneth Paltrow, Kelly Rutherford, Leandra Medine Cohen, Sandra Oh, Rosie Huntington-Whiteley and Doina Ciobanu.
The brand continues to evolve, expanding to diverse product categories with unique capsule collections and special editions, collaborating with local artisans for limited production and made-to-order items, with a direct-to-consumer focus to offer clients the highest quality products and reduce unnecessary waste. Past and current capsules include collaborations with model and environmentalist Arizona Muse, Tamu McPherson, artist Rob Wilson, as well as brands such as LaDoubleJ and Perfect Moment.
The Story
Allison Hoeltzel Savini grew up on the coast of South Texas, studying music throughout her childhood and moving to Italy after graduate school to work at the Bologna Opera House. A chance encounter with a fashion designer launched her into the world of leather goods, and after a decade developing and managing product lines for international brands, she partnered with her trusted network of artisans to build a collection inspired by classic utilitarian and equestrian bags.
Thus "Officina del Poggio" was born: "officina" means workshop, and "poggio" translates to hills. It is exactly this "workshop in the hills" of Bologna that is home for Allison where she continues to draw inspiration for the ever-evolving collections she creates.
Core Values
Our core values focus on integrity, attention to detail and sustainability, producing our collections in limited production runs with a mindful use of resources, adding to the uniqueness of each piece.
Our design philosophy is to create classic shapes that last beyond trends, We firmly believe that each item added to a wardrobe should be cherished for a lifetime, encouraging a tradition of thoughtful purchasing and less waste.
Our Leather
All of the leathers we use are from tanneries that are certified suppliers of the Leather Working Group, a global multi-stakeholder community committed to building a sustainable future with responsible leather through enforcing best practices and positive social and environmental change for responsible leather production.
The core of our collection features Italian vegetable-tanned leather from Tuscany. The skins come from farms in northern Europe and are tanned in Tuscany using traditional methods passed down generations. We are proud to work with one of the founding members of the Italian Vegetable Tanned Leather Consortium (Il Consorzio Vera Pelle Italiana Conciata al Vegetale), created to preserve the historic processes of vegetable-tanning and certify that the skins abide by certain standards: no animal is killed just for the skins, and the methods use low-energy and environmentally-friendly practices, such as investing in water depuration systems and waste recycling.
Responsible Production
Through our collaboration with Arizona Muse, we learned that sustainability shouldn’t be about perfection, but progress. We are constantly striving and setting goals to become more sustainable in our daily operations and production:
PACKAGING: In 2019 we moved to completely plastic-free packaging, using paper and boxes from 70% recycled materials. Our new cotton tote dustbags are created from 100% certified organic cotton, and are designed to be re-used either for protective covering when storing items or as a daily shopper.
UPCYCLING: We reduce waste through purchasing overstock of fabrics and leathers from local suppliers, and also incorporate off-cuts of our own leathers and materials into the production of small leather goods and new items. Remnant scraps are collected and donated to produce regenerated leather.
STAYING LOCAL: We invest in our community by keeping our production and operations local: Through working with Italian artisans and suppliers, we are able to closely monitor the production of our components and final products to ensure that they are produced in a safe workplaces with fair wages. Our leather-goods are crafted by artisans in Emilia Romagna and Tuscany, our outerwear by the women of Cooperativa Alice in Milan, our hats by artisans in Puglia, and the footwear is crafted just a few kilometers from our studio by the artisans at Enzo Bonafè. Each piece bears a “Made in Italy” embossing and is accompanied by a unique numbered certificate, hand-signed by the maker.
