Stéphanie Branco

Stéphanie Branco is an architect since 2006 and her passion for craftsmanship emerged in 2010 when she made her first pair of shoes, entirely by hand, while working in Paris. Being the 4th generation of craftsman, her passion for craftsmanship runs in her blood. In 2011 she founded ASA Leather Work. In 2016 she came back to Portugal, her homeland, to study Footwear Design and work with as a Production Manager for national & international brands.
Later, in a self-taught way, she started practicing the saddle stitch technique and made 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 her hands was fantastic.
She now strives to preserve the hand sew technique “Saddle Stitch”, which is about to disappear in Portugal. 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 sews, cuts and assembles each piece of leather manually, inspired by the traditional techniques.