Stéphanie Branco

Stéphanie Branco strives to preserve the hand sew technique "Saddle Stitch", which is about to disappear in Portugal. Being the 4th generation of craftsman, her passion for craftsmanship runs in her blood. In 2011 she founded ASA. ASA (in Malay) means Esperança in Portuguese or Hope in English. It is a tribute to Stéphanie´s great grandfather Luis Esperança, the first craftsman in the family, who was a shoemaker. It all started in 2010 when she made her first pair of shoes entirely by hand in Paris, while working as an architect. Later, in a self-taught way, she started making a wallet for a friend and bags for her, and she never stopped. A true passion was born and the therapeutic feeling of working with hands was fantastic.Her training in architecture gives her the natural ability to imagine and build her products, as well as attention to detail, maintaining the highest level of quality. She cuts and assembles each piece of leather manually, inspired by the traditional techniques used at the Maison Hermès. As a Designer, Pattern maker, and Self-taught Craftswoman, she now wants to pass on the passion for Leather.