Conversations with Kimberly Pucci

Today we’d like to introduce you to Kimberly Pucci. Them and their team share their story with us below:

Please kick things off for us with some background on the story.
Kimberly Pucci was planning to become a lawyer, but a fateful junior year abroad at the Università degli Studi di Firenze changed everything. “Florence stopped me in my tracks,” she recalls. “Everywhere I turned I was inspired, whether it was food, wine, art or just the culture of living la dolce vita.” Her host family included artisans who handcrafted frames for Renaissance paintings at the Uffizi Gallery—and she was hooked.

Immediately after graduating from the University of Rhode Island, she returned to Florence and immersed herself in every aspect of Renaissance art—taking University courses, working as an art-school archivist, even sneaking into the Pitti Palace with a friend who was restoring Medici dresses. “I bought myself a beautiful apple-red bike with a big basket and a bell and would just ride the around city,” she remembers. “My favorite cappuccino bar was in the Oltarno neighborhood, the hub of the Florentine artisan scene. Every morning the goldsmiths, woodworkers, painters and sculptors would convene for a caffe corretto, and I’d chat with them about their latest commissions.” Surrounded by art at every turn, she embraced every opportunity to learn more. “Anytime there was a church open or someone in a studio working on mosaics, I had to pop my head in to look.”

After obtaining a work visa and few entry level-positions at Ferragamo and Gucci, Kimberly decided to try her luck on the Ponte Vecchio, the world’s most renowned jewelry destination for almost 500 years. “I walked into one store that just blew me away. A very, very large showroom of the most incredible jewelry. Just breathtaking.” The owners, from a lineage of Florentine jewelers going back to the 1300s, hired her on the spot—and soon she found herself working with everyone from American senators to African kings.

Over the next 11 years, she learned every aspect of the business, ultimately becoming Retail Director of the store. “What I really loved was sitting with the artisans as they handcrafted a piece of jewelry,” she says. “They would literally show me the entire process: how to select and set gemstones, how to transform the raw materials into a wearable work of art.”

Missing her family back in Rhode Island, Kimberly proposed a clever win-win: during the store’s annual off-season, she would build a private trunk show business in the US. “I’d fly to Chicago or Houston, or San Francisco with four million dollars of amazing Italian jewelry in my backpack!” she laughs. “That’s really how I became an entrepreneur. Women loved that I could offer them something unique, one-of-a-kind, that they couldn’t get anywhere else.”

During this time, Kimberly met her husband Alessio, a native of Tuscany studying architecture at the Università di Firenze. As her stateside success grew, the couple decided to relocate to Kimberly’s native Rhode Island but still maintain a foothold in Tuscany with their villa in Montespertoli.

Kimberly continued to build her career with leading fine jewelers in the New England area, but her entrepreneurial spirit would not be denied. Now, with Kimberly Pucci Atelier and Kimberly Pucci Vault, her artistic sensibility and unparalleled expertise have found their ultimate expression. “I am living my passion,” she says. “Building relationships with my clients and my artisans, based on uncompromising quality and integrity. It’s a dream come true.”

“True luxury allows a woman to wear exactly what she wants when she wants. It includes her in the creative process. It expresses her individuality. It fits so perfectly with her lifestyle, she’ll wear it every day. I love that I can give my clients that freedom, with the very highest level of quality and craftsmanship—and at a value the big luxury houses simply cannot offer.”

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Launching a brand is always a challenge but one that I have embraced daily. I would say my biggest challenge since I launched Kimberly Pucci in 2019 was the pandemic. Up until March 16, 2020 I was traveling the country. NYC, LA, Boston, Wichita, Kansas City, Chicago, Houston…then it all stopped and my challenge then became how to grow this new American luxury goods brand from my kitchen island. I immediately learned that I had to use every social media platform I had at my fingertips (personal + business) and focus on the authenticity of the brand. As things began to open up, I knew people needed to see, touch, feel and even “smell” my collections. Although my initial goal was not to set up a traditional bricks and mortar store, I decided to open a pop-up in a place where people would feel safe and find refuge during the summer of 2020. Newport, in my home state of Rhode Island seemed like the perfect spot. Not only was I able to get in front of new customers who flocked to the East Coast city by the sea resort town but I was also able to focus in on creating a brand story and identity for what was now the “new world”. I no longer was focusing on how my customer was to wear my collections out “in the city” but instead how luxury was to be worn on the daily. My photo shoots moved from the Petit Salon of the Baccarat Hotel NYC to picnicking at the Newport Polo Grounds during a match, a day playing croquet and sipping Rosé at a restored Relais & Chateau hotel on the beach in Watch Hill, RI… It was at that moment that the brand pivoted to truly embrace the American Luxury Lifestyle while highlighting and paying tribute to our Tuscan Heritage. #AmericanLuxurywithTuscanHeritage #HandmadeInTuscany #BecauseCraftsmanshipMatters

How do you define success?
There is no single recipe for success but there is one essential ingredient: Passion. A combination of passion and purpose is what drives me every day. I had lunch during NYFW with a Manhattan-based luxury consultant. He asked me many questions as he was extremely curious about my brand concept. The question that stands out in my mind from that interview is this…”Kimberly, you seem to have a sensible, effortless style. Who do you design for? Who is your target market?” and this is what I said which still holds true to the very core of the brand…”I first and foremost design for myself. I am my brand. I own my brand. And I am my best brand representative. I need to LOVE everything that I put out there. First, because if I do not love it, I will not sell it and I am also my best salesperson. Secondly, (and I giggle), I own my brand and literally own every accessory that I design and craft. In the world of luxury we are bombarded on a daily basis with a market that is oversaturated with products that are label driven. The passion for design, quality and craftsmanship has been replaced by fast fashion, mass production and repetition. We live in a world which now defines who we are by the labels we wear. My goal is to turn the clock back, to slow things down and create an American Luxury Goods company that is handcrafted in Tuscany. It is a brand that offers the most customization options on the market from precious stone inventory to leather choices, exotic skins, hardware and bespoke sizing. Kimberly Pucci encourages the customer to have a choice in how he/she wears luxury and lives in luxury. Kimberly Pucci Atelier, Vault and Casa is quiet luxury. It is luxury that you notice. It is easy, sophisticated and chic but it does not scream in your face. Instead, it is intentionally discreet which makes it most desirable for the discerning clientele and that takes passion.

Pricing:

• Kimberly Pucci Atelier – Small Leathergoods $125-$475
• Kimberly Pucci Atelier Handbags $475-$4500
• Kimberly Pucci Casa Home $275-$2000
• Kimberly Pucci Vault $1000-$250,000+

Contact Info:

• Email: clientservices@kimberlypucci.com
• Website: www.kimberlypucci.com
• Instagram: @kimberly.pucci
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kimberlypucci.av

Image Credits:
Mia Campopiano Photography Meghan Sepe Photography