About Madrina Club

Clearly demonstrable passion about the “Made in Italy” brand from the people of Italy.   Walking the streets of Naples with a very successful businessman from Campania with a PASSION for his country, he started pointing out to me the imposter products along the streets of Naples.  I was instructed where to buy real authentic goods, and which stores to avoid because the products were false and imported from other countries.  It was a tour of which businesses decided to cut corners to make a lesser quality product with ingredients from other places, and which stayed true.  Italy continues to fight to provide quality products that are made in Italy.  In my newly established role as an Italian citizen, I wanted to also join the fight to keep it real.  To maintain the authenticity and integrity of the “Made in Italy” brand.

The seed was well planted to try and leverage my knowledge of business and technology and to build bridges between my two countries, the USA and Italy.  In the spirit of learning more about the best way to approach this new venture, I attended an online event to learn more about Italian business and the plans to restart the economy after the pandemic restrictions lifted.  A webinar experience with www.ilsole24ore.com/madeinitaly , lead to the certainty of my intention to create a business around products and services “Made in Italy”.   It was the first important aspect of the business case with many supporting facts.  

In the spirit of the made in Italy brand, I wanted to create a company with a 2-part strategy for various reasons.  The first part of the strategy was to import “Made in Italy” products into the USA and create an e-commerce business.  The second part was to offer adventures to visit Southern Italy where the products were produced.    So, what better way to tie the strategy together than to 1) offer travel bags and 2) show people the best way to pack for a week in Italy.  Then you can experience and appreciate the craftmanship ahead of the trip.  “A travel collection to inspire a trip to the very place it was made by local artisans”.

Italian leather has been famous for its quality and durability since the Middle Ages, when Florence became the capital of Europe’s artisan leather workshops and the Oltrarno neighborhood was thick with craftsmen making everything from shoes and accessories to decorated saddles, leather armor, and even ornate book covers.  One of the hallmarks of good quality Italian leather is that they use full grain hides and process them in a way that produces a softer, more pliable leather. 

While you might be paying a heftier price for traditional methods, labor-intensive processes, and brand name, the real reason why Italian leather is so expensive is that it is simply better than other leathers around the world.

A local artisan in Naples, Italy with over thirty years’ experience. Mario Palmieri has interpreted the work of leather craftsmanship as a form of art, in which the relationship between form and materials becomes a synthesis. Simply put, it is style. Following the footprints of great Neapolitan artisan schools, for centuries synonymous all over the world with quality and exclusivity.

The careful choice of leathers and fabrics is only the starting point of a creative process in which the skilled hands of a craftsman make each item unique. Bags, suitcases, and leather accessories.  Mario Palmieri’s creativity pushes leather craftsmanship along paths that are often unexplored. A motorcycle helmet, a lounge chair, or a barber’s chair may become new test beds for his experiments.

From 1990 to today, he has collaborated with prominent brands such as E.Marinella, Haas, Ka International, Fedeli, Altanus, Kiton, Alois, Mastro Raphael, Laura Ashley, Angelo Marino, Antica Barberia Italiana, etc. A journey that every day is enriched by new emotions, new experiences.  In the name of style. Neapolitan style.

The first collection includes 4 pieces for traveling; travel bag, tote, baguette, and a wallet. The Madrina Club has carefully designed the Signature Travel Bag to provide travelers with enough space to organize, pack light and have all you need for up to a 1 week trip.  The organizers in this carry-on bag give you a place for all necessities, allowing for more time to enjoy your trip.  The Signature Bag is the most sought after of the Classic Cognac Collection.  Made with the highest quality Italian leather, tanned and treated in Tuscany and hand made in Naples, Campania.  Italy is known for the method of vegetable tanning, creating a beautiful leather that develops a patina and becomes buttery soft with use.   On top of provided a great way to pack efficiently and travel, this luggage is a noticeably classy and casual way to jet set.  All products imported from Italy to USA and distributed from the Madrina warehouses.

Madrina is a wholly-owned house brand of the Campania Trading Corp, USA.  This strategy allows Campania Trading Corporation to consider other products using multiple brands in the future.

If you do not have a target, where do you aim?  Did you ever have a person in your life that just magically showed up when you needed them to point you in the right direction?  To INSPIRE you? Maybe the person was there only to listen or to offer gentle guidance, and help you to navigate, like a “Madrina”, a Godmother.  This is the essence of the brand.

MADRINA is a passion brand intended to inspire people to travel, learn, and grow through new experiences and adventures.  The adventures are based in the 7 Southern regions of Italy since it is the part of Italy less traveled.  The elements of the brand with the female archer, are representative of pointing visitors and adventurers in a precise direction with confidence.  On the path to adventure, and the perfect way to pack a bag for the trip.  The metallic gold in the logo denotes a moderate to luxury brand. 

Campania Trading Corporation dba The MADRINA CLUB is an importer of Italian goods to the USA, an online retailer of Italian products, and a designer of adventure tours in Southern Italy, the territory known as MEZZOGIORNO; which includes the 7 Southern regions Campania, Calabria, Basilicata, Molise, Abruzzo, Puglia, and Sicily.  MADRINA focuses on small authentic adventures to allow visitors to explore the beauty in the southern Italian territories.