Lecture by Francesca Lombardo (Founder and Owner of Brio & Co. LLC). Tuesday, February 28, 2017 – 7:00pm. Doors open at 6:30 pm. Reception to follow lecture. Italian Cultural & Community Center. 1101 Milford St, Houston, Texas 77006. Ticket Prices: $10 for ICCC Members – $15 for Non-Members. Reserve your seat today – Eventbrite or call 713-524-4222 ext. 7 

Join us at the ICCC for an evening to celebrate the “Made in Italy,” excellence in Italian craftsmanship and design, Tuesday, February 28, 2017 at 7:00 pm. Francesca Lombardo, founder and owner of Brio & Co. LLC, will present an interesting lecture on how and why Italian shoes are the industry’s top leader in quality and design. Guests will learn about the history and aspects of the “Made in Italy” brand, as well as the reasons why Italy is an industry model to follow to achieve success.

Meet Francesca Lombardo: Francesca grew up in a small town in Sicily, where the sense of community and attachment to the tradition is still well alive. At the age of 19, she left home and went to college in Milan, where she obtained a degree in law in 2005. After graduation, Francesca pursued a job as an expat with a national offshore construction company, moving from project to project and from country to country, ending up in Houston in 2010. It was in Houston that her strong sense of appreciation for the simple things and her burning passion for discovery led her to start a project of her own, with the goal of reconnecting with her cultural homeland through one of Italy’s traditional areas of excellence: shoe making. Between trade shows, visits to the shoemakers’ workshops and other travels and plans, Francesca’s business is growing and moving forward by promoting the small Italian manufacturers, who for generations have been nurturing a special way of doing things by hand fostering the artisan flair and the pride for an excellent craftsmanship.