THE HOURGLASS

Italian/Guatemalan Cecilia Pirani designs spaces and items that are naturally calming. Brought up in the industrial, urban environment of Milan, Pirani sought serenity for balance. By including subtle, soft colors in her work, Pirani has brought tranquility to those who enjoy her design.

After living in Milan, Pirani moved to Guatemala City where her mother was born, finding an altogether different atmosphere. Without industrialization, she found room for more purified, raw, sensibilities. In her Central and North American travels, Pirani observed women in the markets carrying woven plastic bags, seeing vibrant, bright iterations of the bag in travels to Oaxaca and Antigua.

“In Guatemala, I found something more soft,” Pirani said. After a year of searching, she found a family to produce the bags in her personalized, filtered palette that is inspired by the light and tones of the villages and the natural dyes of indigenous dress. She sources mostly recycled plastic from manufacturers in the countryside.

Pirani’s goods are all handmade in Guatemala; she inspects the quality of each herself before bags are shipped to their new homes.