Lag Lab: The bag that tell stories

To address Calabria’s low female employment rate, the Roberta Lanzino Anti-Violence Centre launched an empowerment program that enabled three women to found LAG Lab, a line of sustainable, handcrafted bags that transformed newly acquired skills into an entrepreneurial path toward independence.

According to data from the Italian Bureau of Statistics, Calabria’s female employment rate is one of the lowest in Italy. Only one in three women of working age has a job—an alarming figure that places the region among the least inclusive in Europe.

In response, the Roberta Lanzino Anti-Violence Centre in Cosenza created a safe space for empowerment and personal development, aimed at rebuilding self-esteem, fostering creativity, and reactivating skills that had often lain dormant. The program is a catalyst for change, promoting qualified employment and women-led ventures to help narrow the region’s employment gap.

The project relied on a strong network of partners—Ri-forMap, Sostenia, Goodwill, and the social cooperative 2ndChance—which provided training and support. It was carried out within the framework of Realizziamo il cambiamento con il Sud (“Let’s Create Change for the South”), supported by Fondazione Realizza il Cambiamento, Fondazione CON IL SUD, and ActionAid International Italia ETS.

Between October 2024 and October 2025, the project embraced ethical craftsmanship and environmental and social sustainability, prioritizing recycled materials and the value of personal stories. The training program involved two pathways: a practical work component that combined artisanal workshops and digital literacy, and a psychological-emotional component focused on empowerment, soft skills, and individual and group support.

Participants learned about creative sewing techniques and textile recycling. The course became a “third place,” a space apart from daily life, out of which LAG Lab was born—a line of uniquely designed bags that combine aesthetics, functionality and sustainability.

In psychology, a bag can be read as a metaphor of the Self—an intimate “portable home” that holds essential objects and becomes an extension of the person. Creating bags thus allowed participants—almost unknowingly—to work through a metaphor of their own lives, stitching their identities back together. Each LAG Lab piece became a “biography,” expressing their creativity, womanhood, and a vision for the future.

Made from recovered fabric scraps, technical textiles, and natural fibres, every bag is shaped by the personal story of the woman who imagined it. While the project provided the skills, the choice to create a line of bags is the clearest proof of their journey of rediscovery and renewed sense of self-worth.

Three of the participants—Laura Furfaro, Anna Liguori, and Giulia Secreti—dared to imagine their professional and personal lives on a different trajectory, transforming their training into a concrete entrepreneurial venture.

Laura, a self-taught textile artisan, turned her passion for fabrics into a profession spanning dressmaking, hand weaving, and felting. “My teachers are the materials themselves. They allow me to explore, research, and develop techniques to give new form to my creativity.” Today she creates garments, accessories, and objects by intertwining fibres, wood, and reclaimed materials.

Anna, who works in a clothing boutique, describes fashion as the guiding thread of her life. her path. “I care about details and always try to leave a personal imprint, an original touch. I help women dare to personalize their outfits, express themselves freely, and love themselves as they are.”

Giulia, a theatre director and video maker, connects her creativity to the cultural fabric of Calabria:
“I weave memory, manual knowledge, and creative thought. I explore my land through fabrics and yarns, and images of handmade pasta and historic town centres. In my performances I tell the stories of local foods, traditions, idioms, and myths.”

Their paths converged at Fuori Posto, where—ironically—they felt “in the right place.” In Italian, fuori posto can mean “out of place” or “out of the ordinary,” and for each of them the program carried a deeply personal meaning.

For Anna, it was “a leap out of my comfort zone, pushing me to experiment, confront myself, and to share.” For Laura, it was “a place of the heart with people who share the same interests, and a space where I learned theoretical and commercial I had often neglected in my practice.” And Giulia adds,
“It was a space where my curiosity could explore different approaches, and where I could deploy my skills and acquire new ones.”

Fuori Posto became a space where each woman could take risks and imagine a different future, breaking away from life scripts that had—consciously or unconsciously—constrained their aspirations.

Anna recalls that “diving into the creative process—from mood boards to studying trends and sketches—felt like going back to art school, but with a more mature perspective.” Guila remembers the “excitement of researching materials, transforming an idea into form, and discovering affinities with Anna and Laura that sparked new possibilities.” For Laura, the most meaningful discovery was meeting Anna and Giulia: “We developed deep mutual trust. They helped me see things differently and rethink my uncertainties.”

LAG is not only an acronym of their first-name initials but also a deliberate choice—the word ‘lag’ means ‘to delay.’ As Anna explains, “In a fast-moving world, we claim the value of mindful slowness. It’s not a limitation, but an ethical choice that honours detail.”

The Fuori Posto project demonstrates how meaningful change can occur when habitual choices are questioned, enabling women to redefine their roles and build tangible opportunities. The mission of LAG Lab is to transform reclaimed materials into bags and accessories with distinctive design. Beyond a creative partnership, LAG Lab has fostered a genuine friendship rooted in a shared vision.

“We don’t chase fast fashion. We create pieces that endure and speak to those who choose them. For us, creativity is a continuous cycle of rebirth, where what was once considered finished becomes a new beginning.”