My first trip to Italy was when I was 16. My dad took me to Milan to visit his best friend, Massi. They met when Massi was a foreign exchange student living with my grandparents in Ohio. Decades later, the two lifelong friends both ended up raising families of three girls.

The following summer, my sister and I went to Cinque Terre and then to stay with Massi’s family at their home in Sardinia. They truly embodied la dolce vita. Home cooked meals outside, family time, and lots of sunshine. My sister Gabrielle and I also got this one last summer together before I went off to college. We jumped off cliffs in Vernazza, ate gelato while petting stray cats, and giggled while our friends taught us Italian curse words. It was an absolute dream.

Physical location aside, you don’t need a passport to embody the Italian summer vibe. It's the feeling of slow mornings, beautiful details, and being present with people you love. In fact, all of the content for this collection is filmed in Northern Michigan. And if that’s painfully obvious, you can keep it to yourself. I’m starting a business, and I don’t have an Amalfi coast budget yet, ok.

S.O.S. (Save Our Style)

I started designing the first collection on my iPad. The first round was a lot of trial and error while I figured out my style. I was stuck in a loop revising and improving my work and couldn’t shake the idea that I needed a “real” designer to come in and clean everything up. I was intimidated by working in Illustrator and was struggling to incorporate specific requirements from my product designer.

My best friend, Emma, is a successful entrepreneur and graphic designer - she’s actually the one who connected me with my product designer in the first place. A networking queen. I kept coming back to Emma for graphic design advice and she encouraged me that I could do it myself, or she could help me. I couldn’t bring myself to ask Emma for help. She’s a busy woman (cue Sabrina Carpenter) and I didn’t want her to feel an obligation to help me just because we’re friends.

So instead, I decided to hire a graphic designer that I found on Pinterest. She was a lovely person, genuinely excited about the project, and had an impressive portfolio. We had a few consultations where I showed her my designs and discussed the requirements. The first round made it clear we weren't on the same page. The designs were too immature and didn’t match the target audience of 25-to-40-year-old women. After a few more rounds of revisions, it was obvious I had to call for backup.

So I finally texted Emma. I asked if I could hire her to save the day, and did she ever. Working with your bestie is its own kind of chaos - we had a hard time being serious, which made the whole thing even more fun. When she first sent me the Illustrator files of her work, I shrieked. She blew me away, and I’m so proud of what we came up with.

Two lessons I had to learn the hard way: trust yourself, and ask for help sooner.

Made to Stand Out

I knew from the beginning that I wanted the luggage tags to have a proprietary shape. Something you see on a carousel and immediately recognize as Taglia. I’ve always despised luggage tags with buckles and paper inserts, so a seamless application and
technology to avoid hand-written inserts were non-negotiable. My product designer, who has an impressive portfolio (she even designed the Aura frame) understood the vision right away. Her team developed a few different concepts, and we ended up combining elements from each. From there, we went through rounds of testing and 3D printing to ensure the form would hold up and that the charm would be strong enough to sustain against tugging at baggage claim.

The result is something I'm really proud of. A distinctive shape that's core to the brand. NFC technology so you never have to write your contact info on a paper insert and pray it doesn't fall out. And designs with personality for people who are intentional about their accessories.

That’s what La Dolce Vita is to me. Not necessarily a destination, but a way of moving through the world with curiosity and delight.

Preorders open July 8th. It’s a limited drop - join the waitlist so you don’t miss out!

xx Charlotte

Around that time, I was looking for luggage tags to purchase as gifts for my family to get everyone excited about our upcoming trip to Japan. I can’t recall exactly what I was looking for, but I was crystal clear on the vibes. And I was not finding them. I wanted something fun and aesthetic. Kitschy in all the right ways. Maybe a colorful abstract image of Mt. Fuji or a crisp Sapporo beer.

Why was it so challenging to find a cute luggage tag? Brands like Away and Beis have given suitcases a major facelift and demonstrated the power of unique marketing on a staple travel product. And still, the luggage tag was left behind.

At this point I did what any sane person does when they feel an inkling of a business idea… purchase the domain and secure all the social media accounts. Over the next six months, I proceeded to tell my boyfriend, Tory, and all our friends about the idea. I brainstormed with Tory over drinks and we were giddy over the idea that one day Taglia would be a household name. I knew right away based on Tory’s reaction that this wouldn’t be the last conversation we would have about Taglia.

In May of 2025, someone mistakenly took my luggage at the airport in a very universe-screaming-at-me kind of fashion. The dramatic ordeal involved TSA security footage, port authority, a very supportive bestie, a fluffy cat, and my generic black away suitcase. Don’t worry, I’ll get into the specifics of my meltdown in LGA terminal C in a separate post because I think it deserves it.

I work a demanding job in consulting, so the rest of the year slipped away in the blink of an eye. Still, I was still thinking Taglia every day. I started drawing designs on my iPad and refining the sketches. I don’t have a design background, but I’ve always loved digital illustration in my free time. It felt good to get my ideas out of my mind and on a screen that would allow others to start to see the vision.

Next thing I knew, it was January 2026. I told Tory my goal was to focus on Taglia. To really make it real. From there I found a product designer and the rest is to be continued in another post because this is getting long. In case you can’t tell, this is my first article. I’m like where do I cut this off because I have a lot to say??

Thank you for making it this far if you are still reading. I look forward to sharing my journey as I build this brand and community. Taglia Travel coming soon!!!

xx Charlotte