Jumping on a video call with Chava Studio designer Olivia Villanti feels like reconnecting with an old friend. There are no formal introductions. Instead, we dive right into what could be the middle of a conversation—like we're picking up where we left off—even though we've never met. "My son was three when we moved to Mexico City from New York [where she and her husband lived for fifteen years]. It was really challenging trying to raise him in NYC. It was a lot. My husband and I were both working a ton. It just wasn't really what we wanted," she says. Juggling work and mom life is a familiar struggle. Add in the city's grueling pace, tight spaces, and a global pandemic, and Villanti and her husband didn't need much more reason to stay put in Mexico City for the long haul, close to in-laws and where her husband was raised.
The better quality of life and emphasis on family were instant draws for Vallanti, who was used to burning the candle at both ends. As a dance major pursuing it as a professional career after college, the reality meant practicing all day and waiting tables all evening. "I just got really burnt out," she tells me point blank. And then there was an in-between career—and the novelty of a lunch break—at a part-time job at a fashion PR firm that led Villanti to meet editors who turned into friends. Through those connections, she landed an editor role at Conde Nast's former shopping publication, Lucky Magazine. "That was the magazine that started to make me feel like fashion was accessible to someone like me who loved clothing but didn't have a big budget."
