Empower women, minimize our carbon footprint, raise awareness of the fashion industry's damaging effects and be a company that helps create change. 

 Tesoro Design was founded by Brit Reed out of her parent's basement in 2013. After studying in Florence, Italy, and NYC with the Fashion Institute Of Technology, Brit returned to her home state to find her passion. Brit worked for small retail businesses while discovering her love for leather working, and eventually made the leap to make Tesoro, her small but thriving leather company, her full-time job in 2015.

 Brit closed Tesoro Design in 2022 and took some time off from being an entrepreneur, but after some much-needed rest, Tesoro is opening once more as a place to find beautiful vintage pieces and a space to work with Brit as a personal stylist. 

We decided to leave some of the videos from Tesoro Design up, as our thoughts about sustainability and slow fashion are as important now as ever. 

Our Mission

Why are we so passionate about making our products in America? Great question! We believe that producing our bags in America is not only better for our communities, but also for the environment, and we aim to teach you a little more about the fashion industry along the way. Brits goal is to have a small factory where we can employ locals from the surrounding community to hand make each Tesoro product. Because everything is made here in Philly,  we cut back on fossil fuels used for shipping, and work with tanneries in the USA who do more to protect their workers. We aim to show you how each purchasing decision you make drives the industry into a better place for the world as a whole. Conscious shopping is here to stay, and we are excited to be a part of this growing community.

After spending time at FIT, Brit started to realize how harmful fast fashion is to the world. Americans throw away 14 million tons of clothing every year! The best way to combat this kind of waste is to purchase well made items that are built to last a lifetime.  The leather industry has many of its own issues. From workers being exposed to dangerous chemicals, to child labor, every piece of a handbag can have serious consequences.  By working to educate people about these problems, we hope to help people understand the power they have to make a change and save lives. If you would like to learn a bit more about the leather industry, please head over to our blog, where we do some deep dives into problems and solutions.

 

 

Our Anti-Racist Pledge- 

    • The Pledge -
      • Naming white supremacy on both our personal and professional
        • name it in your company values and business operations
        • Read books about business from black business owners
        • The system is not some blob- Your all white staff, all white instagram
      • Engage in anti-racist education
        • PAY and pursue education on an ongoing basis
        • Part of this is behavioral and spiritual and the other part is educational
      • Commit to open conflict and allow discomfort- when conflict arrises in your team and communities, let it
        • Don’t protect hate speech
        • Don’t demonize the community member who raised it
        • Be able to be called out
        • Set up community guidelines and work with moderators
        • We can disagree and still love each other unless we disagree about peoples humanity and oppression and right to exist
        • Be humble and ready to fumble - don’t be afraid of messing up - you will fuck up - “I’m sorry, I am going to change my behavior”
      • Invest a portion of your monthly company budget and commit to spending (maybe 30%) on hiring black employees, vendors, purchasing black authored books etc…

     

    Contact-   

    For any questions or inquiries, please email our team at brit@tesoro.design

    Head over to Brit's website if you are interested in hiring her as a photographer or consultant for your brand! Click here

     

     

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