FRANCESCA INNOCENTI learned how to crochet in her public middle school in Impruneta, Italy. That class marked the beginning of a lifelong love of needlework, design, and fashion. After moving to the United States to pursue her education, she earned a degree in Fashion Design with a specialization in Design Studio from Manhattan’s Fashion Institute of Technology. Francesca worked a myriad of disparate and unrelated jobs in Los Angeles, New York, and Florence but through it all her love of design and fashion remained a constant.

Francesca Innocenti’s work today is inspired by fashion designers like Paco Rabanne and costume designers like Lizzy Gardiner who used unconventional materials in their designs. Incorporating needlecraft and a passion for sustainability, recycling, and repurposing, she began these projects by creating a series of pieces using soda tabs and soda cans combined with cotton thread and glass beads.  In the future, Francesca plans to expand her work to include accessories and the use of other recycled materials and discarded clothing.