10 Questions with Designer Maria Caruso Martin of Bella Rosa Collection
Founder and Creative Director Maria Caruso Martin
1. Tell us about your grandparent’s legacy and their love story behind the Bella Rosa collection?
The story of my grandparents is an enduring love story, a film-worthy family love story for the ages – part of which was actually borrowed by Judy Blume for her 2015 release In The Unlikely Event.
With over a 1000 love letters written from my grandfather to my grandmother during their 32-year marriage, only one remains. The legacy of my grandparents' love story passed down four generations. In 1915, they fell in love as teenagers in a small town in the hills of southern Italy. From then on, their life was an adventure with only one constant — love letters.
Love letters were how they circumvented their family's approval while they secretly courted. It was how my grandpa continued to reassure Grandma Rosa of his deep love for her when called into the Italian army. It's where he penned his first of many proposals that led to the wedding that was just the beginning of their epic love story. Letters were how they endured being an ocean apart when my grandpa left Italy to make their American dream a reality. Every Friday for 18 years, he sent Rosa his paycheck with a love letter to buoy her hope of reuniting in America. After long years of war and separation, in 1949, their dream came true, and they settled down in New Jersey with their growing family.
Three years later, a plane crashed into their house while Rosa was home alone, ending her life far too soon. Rosa's handbag was the only surviving possession among the ash and rubble. Safely tucked inside the bag was my grandpa's letter from1919 proposing to my grandma. Every day of her life, she faithfully carried it inside her handbag.
2. How does this story bring back to you being the founder and Creative Director?
Over 100 years after that first letter, and four generations of family traditions later, I designed the first edition of the Bella Rosa Bridal Clutch to hold a love letter from my fiancé on our wedding day.
Today, the Bella Rosa Collection combines the intimacy of a personal inscription, the loving touch of embroidered couture, and the romance of Italian craftsmanship. From your engagement party to saying "I do," we establish connections between each wedding event, so every bag feels creative yet cohesive.
I want you to experience the same thrill and joy for your Bridal Clutch as you did when you found "the one" — meaning your wedding dress, of course. The Bella Rosa Bridal Clutch is a wedding heirloom in a small-batch, sustainable fashion with the potential to pass on for generations.
3. Describe the bespoke techniques that are offered especially pertaining to a bride.
Our bespoke offerings include a special sentiment plaque that can be laser engraved with up to 100 characters or client supplied artwork. Allowing our brides to include a special sentiment allows for a every bride to have a bespoke handbag made just for their wedding day or special occasion. This option is available on our entire collection. Each bag is made to order as part of our commitment to reduce fashion waste. The bespoke sentiment plaque can be added to a brides purchase and delivered in our standard lead-time of 4-6 weeks.
4. How does the custom process work and where are they made and how long for delivery?
Our Made for Me program allows the bride to create all design elements of her bag. This process includes selecting one of our existing frames and having Bella Rosa’s atelier customize the design to whatever the bride or stylist can dream up. Handmade in Florence, Italy, we offer embroidery to match your bridal gown, custom designed embroidery, monograms, custom beadwork and embellishments as well as an assortment of over 300 metallic finishes via the Pantone metallic color deck. Lead-time for Made for Me is 12 -14 weeks; pricing upon request.
For the ultimate couture experience, we offer our Couture Creation program allowing brides to customize the entire bag design with a lead-time of 6 months; price based on request (starting at $10,000).
5. Would you describe this as conscious bridal fashion, tell us more?
The Bella Rosa Collection pairs luxury with sustainability. Each bag is made to order at the time of purchase. We don’t over produce or stock any of our products. By only producing items by request, we reduce fashion waste.
It's estimated that 92 million tons of textile waste is created annually by the fashion industry. Bella Rosa is committed to reducing fashion footprints by producing only by request and encouraging brides to choose quality over quantity and passing their heirlooms on to the next generation. We are dedicated to giving back, committing a portion of every purchase to global charities that empower women.
6. Name some interesting requests that have been custom designed.
We have had so many beautiful requests by so many beautiful brides. It truly warms my heart. Each request is filled with so much love and intention. Each bride meets with me via zoom and together we develop her story. The entire process is very collaborative and immersive.
Recently, we designed a drawstring bag for a bride who wanted the beadwork to mimic the windows on the Cathedral at Notre Dame, where she wed her college sweetheart. Another bride asked for Bella Rosa to create a Made for ME clutch to match her vintage Prada rehearsal dinner dress -- we designed the pattern on her embroidery to mimic the beadwork on the vintage couture gown. It was truly a work of art. And then there was the iconic request by a Villa Cimbrone bride who wanted the view from the terrace, inclusive of the iconic statue, embroidered onto her clutch. We added her new monogram and flowers that were painted on the armoire in their honeymoon suite at Villa Cimbrone. We spent hours on the website inspecting the photos of the Gretta Garbo suite to incorporate a memento from what would be their honeymoon suite.
My all-time favorite, and deeply personal request, was from bride Sarah Love. Her grandmother had passed away during the pandemic and it was important to Sarah to honor her grandmother during her wedding week in Amalfi. We created a hummingbird embroidered Made for Me clutch for Sarah. Hummingbirds have a spiritual significance and mean the spirit of a loved one is near. Sarah created an entire dinner themed with hummingbirds in honor of her grandmother inclusive of a one-of-a-kind Bella Rosa clutch. We often spoke about how both our grandmothers spirit would forever be present in every stitch of this very special handbag.
7. Who are some of the celebrities and stylist who wore a clutch on the red carpet, and who for their wedding?
We had the honor of designing a one-of-a-kind wedding day clutch for Sophia Bush. Sophia asked Bella Rosa to embroider a bespoke floral pattern created especially for her wedding inclusive of a single bumblebee as a nod to her honeybee farm.
Our first red-carpet moment came along with a Made for Me clutch designed in collaboration with celebrity stylist Micaela Erlanger for Lupita Nyong'o for her Wakanda Forever premiere.
Krista Yu wore a gold shimmer Bella Clutch to the 2023 Critics Choice Awards.
Micaela Erlanger has worked extensively with Bella Rosa on numerous bridal handbags for her bridal clients as well as her own wedding in 2020 when she asked Bella Rosa to create two couture creations for her big day. Micaela wore two iconic vintage fashion pieces during her five-day nuptial celebration in Miami. The iconic green Versace dress made famous by Jennifer Lopez at the 2000 Grammy’s and a second Versace gown designed by Gianni Versace for what would be his final collection Fall of 1994. Pulled from the Versace vault, and loaned to Micaela for her wedding weekend it was a dream come true to create two very special handbags for Micaela to pair with these iconic pieces of fashion history.
Gabrielle Hurwitz, a top bridal stylist based in NYC and LA, is dubbed "the creative director of wedding day fashion." Gabrielle has entrusted Bella Rosa to create handbags for her fashion forward brides.
Bella Rosa was honored to work with world renowned Joy Proctor on a limited-edition hat box design that sold out in a matter of hours and Ceci Johnson of Ceci New York has been seen on the red carpet at AmfAR, The Knot Gala, & most recently during fashion week with Jason Wu holding her Bella Rosa Clutch.
8. What is the most iconic Bella Rosa style?
Our most iconic style is the Bella Clutch. The romantic design with its feminine curves and mother of pearl clasp is our signature design and top seller amongst brides. It’s the perfect mix of old country romance and modern day fashion. It is available in two sizes.
9. Besides clutches what else does The Bella Rosa collection design?
In addition to handbags, Bella Rosa offers a range of luxury gifts for the bride.
Our ring dishes are hand made in Florence by the Pestelli Family. Founded in 1908, Tommaso Pestelli is one of Florence's historical artisans. The Pestelli Family has been forging designs in Florence for over 100 years. These one-of-a-kind pieces and produced in small batches; no two are exactly the same.
In addition to our ring dish collection, we offer handkerchiefs and a love note box set of wedding day stationEry. Designed in honor of the love letter that inspired the brand, our love note box set includes 10 tri fold note cards each beautifully inscribed with a love sentiment in a timeless calligraphy motif.
The written word is one of the most powerful instruments, a keepsake to last the test of time. We encourage our couples to continue their love letter writings well after their wedding day. Our keepsake box was created to hold every precious keepsake from your wedding day. Handcrafted in two sizes these leather-bound boxes include a gold lock and key complete with fringe tassel.
10. Who have you collaborated with and what inspires a partnership?
Brand collaborators included: Micaela Erlanger, Joy Proctor, Gabrielle Hurwitz and Tricia Paoluccio.
We have been blessed to partner with some of the top designers in the industry. Our shared love of design and all things bridal have brought so many unique collaborations into our collection. These incredible women each have brought a little piece of their style and talents to Bella Rosa and the outcome has been pure magic.
Joy Proctor, world-renowned wedding designer collaborated on our limited-edition hatbox design inspired by travel and the allure of wanderlust.
Gabrielle Hurwitz, top bridal stylist in New York and Los Angeles, collaborated to create a true work of art clutch affectionally named The True Love Clutch – encrusted with over 1100 handsewn pearls each bag requires over 40 hours to produce.
Celebrity stylist Micaela Erlanger and I are releasing a red carpet inspired capsule collection during Bridal Fashion Week in April 2023.
And, my love of flowers and all things floral joined Bella Rosa with Domain of the Flowering and founder Tricia Paoloucio best known for her pressed flower art and the infamous florals she created for Oscar de la Renta, to create our recent release of the Mia Fiori Clutch, with additional flower designs launching in June 2023.
