A NEW YEAR’S NOTE FROM CLARA

Happy New Year Pitusa Fam! I’ve always wanted to do a New Year’s letter for our fantastic fans but have never been able to materialize one. I guess I was scared I wouldn’t have anything interesting to say… but this year I thought screw it, I want to talk to YOU, our loyal customers, directly and communicate with you myself! I wanted to share with you all the highlights of 2017 and Pitusa plans for 2018. So here we go. As I write this message, I’m on the magical island of the gods, Bali. It’s the same place I started my year in 2017—and so it’s pretty amazing to be in the same spot to begin 2018.

This past year has been a big one for both Pitusa and for me personally. After six years of what is commonly described as “dating” (although I could never stand calling it that), I got to marry my soul mate and best friend, Assadollah. We met in May 2011 at my best friend Lara’s wedding in Paris, 5 days later we flew to Ibiza where we fell in love. It was around the same time that I had started Pitusa, I had just designed our signature piece, the Inca Abaya. Assadollah often recalls to friends how the glimpse of side boob from the Inca Abaya (the only thing I would wear at that time and bra-less of course) is what essentially won him over.

Planning a wedding when you’re simultaneously running a company is not an easy feat—especially when your wedding planner is crap (more on that in another post—stay tuned). And I have to admit, the company did suffer somewhat in the process. I realized through all the madness that Pitusa was my baby—she is now 6 years old and after all was said and done I had just abandoned her for over a month—distracted by my own wedding (in another country, with guests coming from all over the world), attending other weddings over the summer and then my honeymoon in Italy. So when I finally got back after a whirlwind wedding and holiday, I had to apologize to her. After six years, I thought I could leave her for such an extended period of time but I realized she needed me now more than ever.

It was a big year for Pitusa, we finally got her into the top USA department stores, we snagged accounts at all the biggies: Saks, Nordstrom and Bloomingdales. This felt like a long overdue achievement but an achievement none-the-less and a big round of applause must go to our amazing Pitusa team who made this happen. This allowed me to relax a bit on the retail front and turn my concentration toward getting our products direct to customers faster and cheaper—which is such a big thing for me, because my main priority is and always has been, you. In order to do this, we opened our first distribution warehouse in Peru at the end of 2017, which was hard work, but ultimately another dream realized. The fact that we now have our own warehouse in Peru means that our customers in Europe and Latin America can purchase online, and pay lower shipping rates with fewer taxes thanks to Peru’s free trade agreements. This operation will be active within the next few months and in full swing by this summer! I know that as a customer myself, it’s never ideal paying exorbitant shipping fees—so it’s been exciting to be able to make Pitusa more accessible to our European and Latin American fans.

In addition to this we did another revamp of our website and gave it a new fresh look. The goal was to improve functionality and as always keep it aesthetically pleasing. It’s taken several redesigns over the past few years but we hope we’ve achieved the final perfect website, what do you guys think—we’d welcome any feedback! We’re always striving to improve and I’d love to hear your thoughts.

We’ve also been producing our clothes in both Bali and India since last year, in addition to continuing to work with our original beloved factories in Peru. We did this not just because I love ringing in the New Year in Bali (smiley face) but also because we want to give you a wider variety in our product line with different fabric options and price points. In 2018 we hope to bring you a larger selection in our accessories line and by the end of the year we are hoping to have launched Pitusa Home!

So that’s all my news fam. Now that I’ve had a chance to exhale and reflect back on it, 2017 was a year of exciting highs for me personally and professionally. We smashed some goals that I could never have imagined all those years ago when I started Pitusa. But enough about us, we definitely like to look back in order to look forward to see what we can materialize—that’s where you come in. How did your year go my friends and what are your goals and resolutions for the coming year?

We want to hear more from you! Can you tell us anything you want from us that we’re not currently offering? What would be a big thing that Pitusa could pull off this year that you’ve been dying to see? Please let us know in the comments below, we would love for you to be a part of the conversation. From contests, to new products to content, we aim to please. At the end of the day, the reason I do any of this is for you, Pitusa fam. 

From the entire Pitusa team (Machu and Picchu included), we are wishing you all a very happy 2018. May everyone’s dreams come true!

Love,

Clara Lago
Founder