“I wanted to translate the tradition”, says Iutta designer & founder

I always thought that is kind of difficult to put the traditional marks into something modern and not to look a bit… off. That until I met, a couple of years ago, Iutta designs. And that is because, even I feel that I am part of a story that includes generations, memories, craftsmanship and symbols, Iutta still made this cool & actual. “I grew up close to art and craftsmanship, as my father was a sculptor, so the respect for material, for the hand that creates, for symbols and objects with soul was already there”, says Nicoleta Chirica. “And the new direction we are developing now, around the idea of openness, memory, and personal heritage, feels very important to me”. Therefore, I talked to the designer & founder Iutta about the heritage worths preserving, about the alternative leather options, embroidery and clothes with a message to carry over generations. 

Iutta – on https://iutta.ro, in FORME space (in Sheraton Bucharest Hotel, 5-7 Dorobanți street – along with products from @carti_dulciuri_si_flori, @lady_magpie_jewellery, @octaviachiru) / Instagram – @iuttaofficial
Jewellery in the pictures – by #RomanianDesigners Octavia Chiru (rings) & Lady Magpie (necklaces) – availabe in Forme space – read the interviews with these designers on links.

Photography: @roxabadilita 

Iutta is a brand described as being at the intersection between heritage and modernism. You were not afraid to upset somebody with this mix, from one side or other? 

Maybe a little, at the beginning. But I think every living culture needs this tension between memory and reinvention. Heritage is not something frozen in a museum, it breathes, transforms, and finds new forms through each generation. With Iutta, I never wanted to reproduce tradition literally. I wanted to translate it. To take symbols, craftsmanship, stories, and emotions that belong to our roots and bring them into a contemporary language, one that can be worn today, by women who live modern lives but still feel connected to something deeper. Of course, when you work with heritage, there is always a delicate line between respect and reinterpretation. But I believe that if the intention is honest and the craft is respected, this dialogue becomes powerful, not offensive.

How did Iutta brand appeared? What was the main reason (the thought, the feeling, the resort) that made you start the business? 

Iutta appeared from a very personal need: the need to create something with meaning. At the beginning, it was not a business plan in the classic sense. It was more of an inner impulse, a mix of curiosity, emotion, and the desire to build a visual language that felt connected to who I was. I grew up close to art and craftsmanship, as my father was a sculptor, so the respect for material, for the hand that creates, for symbols and objects with soul was already there. But Iutta was also born from a kind of longing, a Romanian “dor” – for roots, for beauty, for identity. The first pieces were almost intimate objects. Bags, shoes, accessories that carried signs, embroidery, textures, and stories. Slowly, they became a brand.

The biggest challenge as a Romanian brand was…

The biggest challenge was to build value around local identity without letting it be perceived as nostalgic, folkloric, or limited to a purely traditional aesthetic. For many years, “Romanian-inspired” could easily be misunderstood as something traditional in a narrow way. Our challenge was to show that heritage can be sophisticated, contemporary, desirable, and relevant today. There is also the practical side: producing locally, working with artisans, maintaining quality, managing limited production and building a brand from Romania is not always easy. But I think this difficulty also gives the brand its depth.

The Iutta collection that made you very proud was… 

Each collection marked a different moment, but the ones that make me most proud are those where the emotional message and the craftsmanship came together naturally. The new direction we are developing now, around the idea of openness, memory, and personal heritage, feels very important to me. It includes pieces created together with actress Ada Galeș, using cutwork embroidery, old crochet pieces and personal memories transformed into contemporary objects. It feels vulnerable, poetic, and very alive. Maybe that is why I am proud of it even before it is fully launched, because it carries a truth.

Fashion & sustainability, a disputed subject today – where Iutta stands on this subject? 

For Iutta, sustainability is not only about materials, although materials are very important. We work with leather, natural fabrics, organic textiles, limited series, and we try to avoid overproduction as much as possible. Over time, we have also integrated alternative and innovative materials into some of our collections, such as Piñatex, a leather alternative made from pineapple leaf fibers, for clients who choose not to wear natural leather. In our newer creative direction, we are also exploring upcycled pieces: old textiles, crochet fragments, archival materials transformed into contemporary objects with a new life. But sustainability is also about rhythm, intention, and emotional durability. I believe an object becomes more sustainable when it is loved, repaired, kept, passed on, or worn for many years. We have clients who still wear their Iutta bags after seven or eight years, and this is very important to us. This is also why we offer a repair service in our atelier, whenever possible. We want the objects we create to stay in people’s lives, not disappear after one season.

That item / that detail / the fabric that will always appear in Iutta collections is…

The symbol. It can appear through embroidery, engraving, leather work, texture, or shape, but there will always be a sign, a hidden meaning, a detail that connects the object to a story. Iutta is not only about form. It is about what the form carries. Embroidery will always remain important to us, as well as leather, natural textures, and details made by hand. I am also very attached to the idea of the bag as an object of memory,  something practical, but also intimate, almost ritualic.

Romania inspired Iutta brand to… / Iutta inspired Romania to… 

Romania inspired Iutta to look deeper. To search beyond clichés and rediscover beauty in symbols, craft, forgotten objects, old stories, rituals, and gestures. I hope Iutta inspired Romania, even in a small way, to look at its heritage with more tenderness and courage. Not as something old or limiting, but as something that can become modern, refined, and emotionally powerful.

FORME space appeared in March 2026 because…

FORME appeared because Iutta needed a new kind of space. Not just a shop, but a place where objects, people, stories, and rituals could meet. After many years of building a product-based brand, I felt the need to create an experience-based space,  a living platform for design, curation, workshops, launches, collaborations, and conversations around beauty and meaning. FORME brings together Iutta pieces, Romanian designers, artists, books, flowers, and cultural moments. It is a space between retail and ritual, between object and encounter.

What is next for Iutta? The next collection will be about… 

The next collection is about openness, memory, and transformation. It explores delicate forms of personal heritage: old textiles, cutwork embroidery, crochet pieces, fragments from the past, and the way they can become contemporary again. It is less about a decorative interpretation of tradition and more about emotional archaeology: what we keep, what we repair, what we transform. It is a softer, more vulnerable direction, but also a very strong one.

About Nicoleta Chirica we should know… 

I am drawn to the world that forms around an object: the atmosphere, the stories, the gestures, the collaborations, the emotional layer that makes something feel meaningful and alive.I think Iutta was born from this need to connect beauty with identity, craft with emotion, and heritage with a contemporary way of living. FORME feels like the next step in this journey: a space where creation, curation, and legacy can meet. 

Photography: @roxabadilita.