“I failed cutting in kindergarten,” jokes Emily Pisano. Although she knew early on she wasn’t cut out for design, she never doubted her calling. “I’ve always been shy,” she says, “and fashion is a way to communicate.” Just two years after graduating with a textiles/merchandising/design major and French minor, she’s now handling the business end of the Pennsylvania leather goods company she co-founded, Tesoro Design. Everything is made in America. “In one of my classes at URI, we learned about global sourcing and how that process affects people,” she explains. “There are companies who don’t realize there are children working in their factories; it gets really hard to manage when you send things abroad. It’s expensive to stay in America, but that just made me want to work harder to find a way to do it.” Pisano also puts her wry writing skills to work as co-creator of Gleek, a style blog that riffs on an Anna Wintour quote: “Sometimes geeks can be chic.” Pisano’s personal style advice: “You can pull off anything, as long as you have confidence. And lipstick.”

For more information, visit www.tesoro.design. 

BY NICOLE MARANHAS