How Karla Gallardo & Shilpa Shah of Cuyana Built a Fashion Brand With Intention

Welcome to Second Life, a podcast spotlighting successful women who've made major career changes—and fearlessly mastered the pivot. Hosted by Hillary Kerr, co-founder and chief content officer at Who What Wear, each episode gives you a direct line to women who are game changers in their fields. Subscribe to Second Life on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or anywhere you get your podcasts to stay tuned.

In 2011, a new brand launched that would soon rewrite the minimalist’s playbook: Cuyana. Built on intentional design and the ethos "fewer, better,” Cuyana celebrates a simpler, smarter lifestyle, echoing the founders’ belief that time is a new luxury. Co-founder Karla Gallardo brought her vision of creating a global design house that inspired this way of living by crafting pieces with integrity and was soon joined by Shilpa Shah to catapult Cuyana into the fashion industry. Today, Cuyana is known for timeless collections of premium leather accessories that make organization almost too easy, foundational wardrobe essentials, and luxe silk and cashmere loungewear. 

Throughout the last decade, Cuyana has garnered the attention of customers who share the same sentiment that less can indeed be more, and it has grown to eight stores nationwide. Yet before Gallardo and Shah began setting a new standard in the industry, their early careers were shockingly quite different. Prior to becoming the CEO of Cuyana, Gallardo worked at Goldman Sachs as an investment banking analyst, and before Shah became the CXO, she began her career in interaction design, where she gained over 15 years of experience designing web and mobile interfaces for Fortune 500 companies including Disney, AT&T, and Sun Microsystems. Together, Gallardo and Shah create a dynamic, strategic team passionate about designing products that are made to last. 

Listen to the latest episode of Second Life to hear how Gallardo and Shah have evolved the brand over the last decade without losing sight of their mission. Keep scrolling to shop some of the best sellers from Cuyana.