We met Eleonora Figus, designer and CEO of Figus Designer :the brand that became famous for its bags made from apple peels.

Let’s start from the beginning:what is the first memory you have of this company? What are your memories as a child? My first memory is that of Italian leather, the scent of leather, mixed with the smell of the cigar my dad always smoked when he made his creations. Yes, cigar smell and leather are my first memory, to which are added the memories of skilled hands at work.

So you have this image of your dad working inside the workshop in Corso Garibaldi alive? Yes, I remember him working with leather and the passion he put into it when bringing the bag to life. Everything was born out of nothing, materializing into something real, appreciated and bought “.

When you were little what job did you think your daddy did? My dad to me was a craftsman and an artist. Everything about the business side was unknown to me as a child. .

When did you actively come to the company? After graduating in marketing and communications, I worked in large companies in digital and fashion. My father, with the advent of fast fashion and the impact of the economic crisis, decided after more than 30 years of work that there was no longer a market for his products,so he thought of closing down. At that point I decided to take matters into my own hands and throw myself into this new adventure. My boss at the time supported my choice convinced that I could relaunch the company and lead it through digital transformation and the challenge of foreign markets. Now, after 15 years of running the company, it always excites me to see how much the brand is appreciated, particularly in the U.S. and the results achieved in the international market .

Do you think the younger generation is ready to have the courage you had, jumping into activities that initially require sacrifice and no salary? I don’t know, but I hope so. I always advise younger people to jump in, because in the end, will and dedication reward and nothing is achieved in a short time. If there is no sacrifice, nothing is achieved. That’s what happened to me, too. .

You have led a digital revolution within the company. What can you tell us about it? I put my previous educational and professional experiences to good use, and also thanks to the contribution of my husband, a professional in the digital field, we created a dedicated team that today follows our digital channels and related activities:e-commerce, social media, customer care, content creation…We opened social channels and a site, which we promoted, set up and pushed, which needed a lot of work. A good part of the site is about content and photographs, the quality of which is crucial .

Do you currently have physical stores? We have 2 physical stores. I, by the way, am often at the sale, because I really like to know customers’feedback and their opinions to try to improve myself more and more and gather stimuli to make new collections. I always try to design bags that are functional based on people’s needs, so I’m very interested in what our customers think. We have always been involved in customization, long before it broke out as a trend. Through customization we give the customer a way to choose what they prefer.

Does this way of acting by personalizing have much feedback? Yes, all the time. Within the stores we do an average of 30 custom per week. .

You are very attentive to the world of women and their needs. In the future do you plan to devote yourselves to the men’s world as well? Yes, we have thought of designs that are fluid and unisex, such as the laptop bag, the bag designed to be versatile and genderless:size, style and colors are unisex, just as the shopper is unisex and customizable. We also have customizable backpacks dedicated to men and women .

How did the idea of creating bags starting from apple peels come about? It all came about because Figus was a bit of a pioneer brand on the presentation of a wide range of materials, including leatherette, which was introduced by us in the 1990s. In order to continue this thread related to the wide variety of materials, I thought of a material that was eco-sustainable and dedicated to a Gen Z target audience and an Italy target audience that is attentive to recycling and the circular economy.

Figus Designer launches AppleBag:bags made from apple scraps

What kind of target audience do you want to hit? With the use of apple peels certainly Gen Z, but we also have vegetable-tanned calfskin, using 100% natural methods .

If you had to imagine an ideal testimonial for your brand, who would it be? For the latest campaign, we chose Vittoria Hyde for her energy and passion. Vittoria is a DJ and music artist who does a lot for the female world. We really like her Figus feel! She is also very ironic with her femininity and nonconformist in her activities and personality!

When you joined the company in 2012 what was the goal to be achieved? At that time it was to lift the brand, reorganize it and digitize it. We did it .

Now what is the goal? Now the goal is to be more and more widespread in the US market. We did a pop-up shop in Manhattan in 2021, and our products were very popular. Customers want more brand presence in the US and we want to please them. We need to appeal to them, including on digital. Our live shopping is very much focused on this .