About

Tania lives in Brooklyn, New York, and is Viva Zapata!’s founder, owner, designer and handcrafter. She puts her mind and heart into coming up with the shapes and colors that make each collection so unique. Whatever colors are left over in the market after public transportation companies meet their needs for upholstering the seats in their buses, Tania carefully picks and combines. This challenge makes it so that ultimately her designs continue to be intricately connected to the colorful buses that gave her inspiration since she first dreamt about this company. She is intimately involved in shepherding each bag from the design table to the upholstery selection to the storefront. Tania is also a co-founder of the jewelry company CaraCruz Brooklyn, launched in 2013.

There are two providers in Buenos Aires that supply the materials for upholstering the seats of city buses. Tania would like to thank Florencia and Marta, from Beplast S.A., andGabriel, from Celin Automotor S.A., for working so hard in making these materials available to Viva Zapata! every time a new collection goes into manufacturing.   

Darío and José are the extraordinary tailors who make these bags impeccable and indestructible. For more than ten years, these young fellows have been working out of their small shop in Villa Domínico, in the outskirts of Buenos Aires, and have come to master the art of bag making. Because they use low-tech sewing machines, their own hands get to be involved in the process of meticulously cutting, tacking, sewing and controlling the quality of each of these bags. For a good part of the year, Tania works closely with them, hands-on at the Villa Domínico shop, to ensure that her designs are well interpreted and executed. We are proud to say that Darío and José work exclusively for Viva Zapata! and we love them for their artistry and commitment.

In memoriam: El Cordobés, Tania’s dad, was a metal smith and button maker in San Julián, Patagonia. He put his art into making beautiful accessories, witnessing the beginnings and first achievements of the company. He would surely be proud of Viva Zapata!’s latest accomplishments.