Fewer, better high-quality essentials
The Cuyana way
I have been a longtime fan of the Cuyana brand and the principles that guide their “fewer, better things” ethos. The company was founded 12 years ago and still today, they deliver on quality craftsmanship and a streamlined merchandising approach that offers luxe-yet-affordable essentials. Their method has embraced sustainability, even before it was in the zeitgeist, through high sell-through (90% vs. 65% industry standard), 100% supplier commitments to environmental and ethical codes of conduct, and as of tomorrow - August 2023 - all of their assortment will be made from 100% sustainable materials.
When I moved to Los Angeles, within the first month of living here, I was invited to listen to a founders panel at the Cuyana store on Abbot Kinney. Shilpa Shah, Cuyana’s co-founder and Chief Experience Officer, invited Heather Tierney from the Butcher’s Daughter restaurants and Shirley Chung from season 14 of Top Chef and creator of Ms. Chi. It was an inspiring evening as it was the first time in my life that I was in the same room as multiple female entrepreneurs.
I find that hearing a story about a brand directly from the founder is the most genuine way to build a connection, and that certainly happened at this event. It’s easy to take for granted the blood, sweat, and tears it takes to go from idea and concept to full blown company, so being present with founders is a great reminder of their deep passion and willingness to take risks, go against the grain, and make sacrifices.
“Fewer, better things” means delivering high quality goods that will last multiple wears, at a fair price point, and in a relevant but not trend-driven way. These goods become staples within one’s everyday. In order to ensure quality, this means sourcing materials directly from cream of the crop suppliers who can promise heritage craftsmanship.
My favorite category with the brand has always been their leather goods, and the product I find myself using on repeat is their travel jewelry case. It’s large enough to protectively house a few pairs of earrings, necklaces, and rings, but compact enough to slip into a small crossbody bag. If you’re looking for something bigger, it comes in this size as well. I also love their leather travel case set, which I have used for 9+ years and gifted many times over and their small zipper pouch. You’ll find the pouch in my airplane carry-on filled with hand sanitizer, lavender oil, my D.S. & Durga coriander travel perfume, and other essentials.
One other element that’s important to note is that they offer personalization on their leather goods. This can make a gift for yourself or someone else extra special.
About the Founders
Cuyana was initially founded by Ecuadorian-raised Karla Gallardo as a Panama hat company. Karla felt alone in her entrepreneurial journey and was looking for a talented individual who could partner with her. She had met Shilpa Shah a few years earlier when Karla was a student in Stanford’s MBA program. Shilpa was visiting during her application process and introduced herself as someone with a design and digital UX / UI background as well as the mother to a 2-year-old. The second admission is something that’s relatively rare for someone applying to MBA programs and Karla felted instantly drawn to Shilpa.
Karla always knew she wanted to start a business. Growing up in Latin America she found that she had 2 loves - the first was fashion and the second was giving back. As a kid, she used to clip images of clothes from magazines and then take the images to a local seamstress. As she grew older, she learned that she did well in both math and economics, so she followed that path at Brown University. After Brown, she worked as an investment banking analyst at Goldman Sachs which gave her a solid “business bootcamp” and then headed to Stanford for her MBA. Although everyday she felt closer and closer to potentially becoming an entrepreneur - she felt that she wasn’t ready to make the leap until she learned more about the retail industry. This path led her to her final role before becoming a founder - a job at Apple working in eCommerce.
Shilpa grew up with a passion for design and advertising. She pursued these interests at Berkeley where she studied computer science with an emphasis on human computer interaction, which is user interface design. This type of role focuses on building highly intuitive user flows within technology products. When she first entered the field, it was a nascent profession; today, it is a table stakes role within tech companies. After working for a few different companies, she landed at Disney which is where she found her footing and blossomed. She describes Disney as the ultimately consumer obsession training ground because their focus is on creating magic. After additional information architecture roles, she returned to Berkeley for her MBA because she felt that that she wanted to understand the business side of work in order to gain insight into how major strategic and financial decisions were made.
Both Karla and Shilpa credit trusting their gut as the reason Cuyana has a strong reputation and longevity. In a highly trend-driven world, they remain focused on classic essentials that will last for years to come.
To learn more about their journey, I highly recommend tuning into their episode with Hillary Kerr on Second Life.
Here’s to embracing fewer, better things.
x jz
Images | 1 - 2 | @b.g.mckay, styled by me | 3 - 4 | Cuyana | 5 | The Cut | 6 | @b.g.mckay, styled by me
Note: I do not get paid for nor make money off of this post. All opinions are my own.
Love my Cuyana travel cases! Also I have a dress and a jacket that are very high quality and still look almost new after 6+ years of wear.