Welcome to Lulo Leather

I didn't plan to start a brand.

I'm Dayana Jiménez, born in Florida, raised in Bogotá, Colombia. Three years ago I moved to Maryland with my husband, my two kids, and our dog. It was one of the hardest things I've ever done. A new country, a new language, a new culture and the quiet, persistent feeling that I was carrying something with me that I wasn't ready to leave behind.

That something was leather.

My father, Andrés Jiménez, founded Riviera in Colombia over 50 years ago, a craftsman family that my family has built across generations. I grew up watching artisans work. I learned to see quality not as a label, but as something you can feel the moment you hold a piece in your hands. The weight of it. The stitch. The way good leather smells like it means something.

When I arrived in Maryland, I looked for that. I couldn't find it.

Not the fake luxury. Not the fast fashion. The real thing, honest leather, made by people who know what they're doing, sold without pretension.

So I decided to bring it here myself.

Why lulo?

Lulo is a fruit that grows only in the Colombian highlands. Tangy, bright, unlike anything you've tasted before. It doesn't travel well. It doesn't pretend to be something else.

That's exactly what I wanted this brand to be: something you can't find everywhere. Something that tastes like where it's from.

50 years of craft. Now in your hands.

Lulo Leather is the US chapter of a family story that started with my father in Colombia half a century ago. Through Lulo Leather, I represent two lines: my own Saint Lulo designs and the Riviera collection the brand my family built, now available in the United States for the first time.

Every piece starts in Colombia. Take Reinel Morales he has been cutting and stitching leather in Colombia for decades. He handles each piece from the first cut to the final stitch, start to finish. No assembly line. No outsourced parts. Just one person who knows exactly what he is doing.

We use full-grain leather because it's the only kind that gets better with age. The grain tightens. The color deepens. After a few years, yours looks like no one else's. That's not a marketing promise that's just what happens when leather is made right.

What I want you to feel.

I've loved meeting this new market, this new culture, and the people here who have helped me find my footing in this new adventure. What keeps me going is simple: I want you to feel unique. Special. Not because of a logo — but because of the craft behind what you're carrying.

When you buy a Lulo Leather piece, you're not buying an accessory. You're holding:

— 50 years of Colombian leatherworking tradition

— A family business now spanning three generations

— Fair wages for artisans who take pride in their work

— A piece designed to last not for a season, but for years

— A small part of my story, and now yours

 I'm not a warehouse. I'm a founder who picks up the phone, who shows up at markets in Maryland to put pieces directly in your hands, who designed every product asking one question: would I carry this every day?

If the answer was no, it didn't ship.

Designed by me. Made by artisans. Worn by you.

— Dayana Jiménez

Founder, Lulo Leather  |  Bogotá → Maryland