Our story
Via Buia.
The dark lane.
A charming, hidden street in south Florence — the road Christine Tortora called home, and where everything began.
Florence, 2012
She lived on this road.
Via Buia is not just a name — it is an address. Christine Tortora lived on this charming street in south Florence, and it was here, surrounded by the leather ateliers and textile merchants of the city she loved, that she first began to dream of ViaBuia. The dark lane was her daily world: its ancient stone buildings, its artisan neighbours, its particular quality of light. When she began creating the brand, the name chose itself. There was nowhere else it could have come from.
"I didn't want to sell bags. I wanted to share something irreplaceable."
— Christine Tortora
The ViaBuia way
FUNKtional BagArt.
Every ViaBuia piece sits at the intersection of function and art. Lightweight enough to go everywhere, bold enough to say everything. Not decorative objects to be kept behind glass — but wearable works with real personality that go where you go, age as you age, and become more beautiful with every adventure. Travel better everyday. Dare to be unique.
One of a kind
No two pieces are identical. Each bag is shaped by hand, and the leather and textile — their grain, tone, and character — ensure every piece is entirely unrepeatable. Find yours and it is yours alone.
Light & multifunctional
ViaBuia bags are built to move. Deceptively lightweight, thoughtfully structured — each piece works as hard as you do, carrying everything you need without weighing you down. Your perfect partner for every adventure.
Dare to be unique
A ViaBuia bag is not a quiet accessory. It has personality — bold textiles, unexpected pairings, a spirit that refuses to blend in. Carry something that starts conversations.
The search
Finding the one.
Every ViaBuia piece begins not with a design brief, but with a journey. Christine travels to Florence each season with a single purpose: to find the pieces that stop her cold.
She moves through the ateliers of the Oltrarno — Florence's artisan quarter — running her hands across bolts of fabric, holding leathers up to the light, pressing her thumb into the grain to feel the density of the hide. It is slow, deliberate work. Most pieces are passed over. A few are set aside.
The textiles she is drawn to are always luxurious in the old sense — brocades woven on Jacquard looms, velvets with a depth of colour that shifts in different light, embroidered silks that carry the fingerprints of the hands that made them. Florentine craft at its most uncompromising. And yet each piece must also live in the real world: light enough to carry all day, structured enough to hold its shape through every adventure.
But the true test is personal. Christine grew up watching her grandmother dress — the deliberate way she chose a bag, the way she matched a fabric to a mood rather than a season. Her grandmother had a gift for pairing the unexpected: a richly embroidered textile against a simple silhouette, a flash of colour where none was expected. She never followed trends. She followed beauty. That instinct lives in every piece Christine selects: if it wouldn't have made her grandmother pause, it doesn't make the cut.
Once a piece is chosen, the work of boxing and matching begins. This is where the magic happens. Florentine artisans lay the chosen textile alongside a range of leathers — considering weight, handle, and the way the two materials will age together. A brocade demands a supple calfskin lining that won't compete with its pattern. A structured velvet calls for a firmer hide to give it backbone. Colours are matched not just to each other but to the light — how they will read on a Brooklyn street, on a Florentine piazza, on a train platform at dusk.
The hardware — clasps, rings, chains — is sourced separately, chosen for its patina and its honesty. Nothing is decorative for its own sake. Every element must earn its place. The result is a bag that feels inevitable — as though it could only ever have been made this way, from these materials, in this city. Lightweight. Multifunctional. Unmistakably alive.
That is the ViaBuia promise: not a bag that matches your outfit, but a bag that matches your spirit. Find your perfect match. Travel better everyday.
"She never followed trends. She followed beauty. That instinct lives in every piece I choose."
— Christine Tortora, on her grandmother
The maker behind it all
Christine Tortora
Christine Tortora is the founder and creative force behind ViaBuia. A bred merchandiser, she began her career in buying for two of fashion's most storied names — Saks Fifth Avenue and Ralph Lauren — developing a rigorous eye for quality, provenance, and what makes a piece truly desirable. She studied Art with a major in Collection at the acclaimed Istituto Marangoni in Milan, combining her studies with business and Italian, disciplines that would later converge into her entrepreneurial path. In 2005, she made the leap — relocating to Italy to follow her dreams. For years she built Made in Italy collections for successful brands, continuing to work freelance as she quietly laid the cornerstone for her own. She settled on Via Buia, a charming street in south Florence, and it was there, with the city's leather ateliers and textile traditions as her daily backdrop, that ViaBuia was born in 2012. In 2016, she opened a freestanding ViaBuia shop in Florence — a space entirely her own, in the city that made her. Today, Tortora and her family split their time between Brooklyn and Florence: two cities, one brand, and the backbone of everything ViaBuia is. She curates every piece personally, travelling back to Florence each season to work directly with the artisans, selecting textiles and leathers by hand, and ensuring that every bag that arrives in Brooklyn carries the full spirit of the street she once called home. Lightweight enough for every adventure. Bold enough to be unmistakably yours.
Founder & Creative Director · ViaBuia · Est. 2012
Find your perfect match.
Come into our Brooklyn boutique, hold the pieces, and find the one that was made for your adventures.