bisous...with chiara

Moved all across the world, and the only thing that kept following her footsteps was art. Growing up in an artistic world where galleries, museums and fashion were a daily ritual. She never knew that soon enough, she’d end up finding herself in worlds of business and art.

Meet Chiara, a 24-year-old creative and founder from Antwerp, Belgium. The reason why art doesn’t die is because the artist doesn’t let it. The hobbies she had when she was six are still the same passions that she follows. Dancing, drawing, reading, meeting new people and most of all, looking at the world through artistic eyes. 

For someone whose life was rooted in art, she didn’t study art in school. Instead, she went the polar opposite. 

Business was what caught her attention because meeting new people, the dopamine of solving a next-gen problem, and building something people craved for, were also her passions, which struck her the moment she went to a business school in Madrid. 

While she was busy playing around with numbers, fashion never left her side. She kept eyeing a statement bag which didn’t make it into her closet, so she went and made her own. Her DIY soul was back in 4K in an old fashioned way. She started by raiding her own closet and found an old pair of her brother’s jeans lying around. Perfect to play around with. Jeans in one hand and a vision in another, she made a small trip to the sewer. She explained her ideas and soon after, left with a better, bolder and sustainable bag in her hand. 

Things for her changed when, the moment she’d step out, people in Antwerp & Madrid would stop her and ask her, “Where is your bag from?” and as she would explain, I made it myself. It didn’t stop there. As she moved across the world and so did her bag, one thing that remained constant was this question. A question which deserved a better answer and a link to buy for others who wanted exactly what she had.

It was when Chiara met Shakira, her now friend & co-founder, that the business world and artistic vision she'd been carrying separately found each other. Together, they built LUNA Antwerp: a sustainable fashion statement where they make bags out of old jeans. A label born in Antwerp, which makes fashion accessible for you.

Luna Antwerp kept recycling all the jeans they could find, through thrift stores or from their houses. Ended up hosting a fashion show all by themselves in Madrid. Collaborating with a runway show in Paris. And now another fashion show in October. Check out their collection here. 

While Luna Antwerp was taking off, Chiara decided to study art history in London. She mentioned how the transition from making something for the money to making something just to create caught her off guard and helped her find her artistic vision again. In her master's, she was busy reading all the history about art, which she wouldn’t have done in business. 

So, she saw the best and worst of both worlds. Business. The real world, they say. Art. The world you create, they say. She’s the girl who’d network with everyone in the room while also walking away after saying that you should do something you love. She wouldn’t call herself an artist, but she’d say creative. I’d say she’s both, and she doesn’t realise it yet.

Moving around the world in her 20s. Starting a business with her friend in her 20s. Hosting workshops & events in her 20s. Hosting a fashion show in her 20s. Living the founder's life in her 20s. She has done it all. But it has also not been easy. It comes with questioning yourself, questioning every business move and doubting your next step before someone else can. 

When asked about her museum of failures & wins, she mentioned losing friends along the way. Nothing hurts more deeply than losing friendships you thought were bonded for life. But she said bisous, showed gratitude for the fond memories and moved to the next chapter.

She’s at that stage of life where she cannot wait to decide where to move next, which art gallery to stop at and how to do it all while making a bold statement with Luna Antwerp. 

And as she says, bisous, while she keeps doing what she loves and making sure it’s somewhere being rewritten in the art history of it all.

&&& That was diary entry 02 at With Passion.

Keep doing what you love,

Khushi

Chiara, 24, co-founded Luna Antwerp, a label making bags from old jeans. She talks about business, art, failure and building a brand.