Virna, the founder of LEPAU, was an ordinary worker having a 9-5 job. After being diagnosed with serious health problem, she spent some time contemplating her passion in life, during which time she came across a book titled “Start a business with love”. The book mentions Motherhouse, a brand founded by Eriko Yamaguchi. Ms. Yamaguchi employs locals to make handbags in hopes of improving the lives of Bengalis. Starting a business is already an arduous process, and creating a social enterprise that helps the disadvantaged is even more so. For all the difficulty, as noted by Eriko Yamaguchi: “Even if there is nothing to hold on to, hard work will eventually pay off.”

Deeply moved by this spirit, Virna packed in her job and began to learn to make handbags, immersing herself into the world of creating. She named the studio LEPAU, which denotes having fun and enjoying the boundless possibilities afforded by the combination of leather with creativity. Notably, in the leather-bound book course offered by LEPAU, patterns on the cover page of the book are made by beamo. One advantage of laser cutter lies in its swiftness in making prototypes. With such an advantage, LEAPU was able to make a paper prototype, which was thereafter reprinted on hard-cover books. With the saved time, she has been able to produce many other creative works. Laser cutter has become an increasingly common digital creation tool in recent years. Laser cutters have the capability of creating miscellaneous materials. We believe that a good digital tool can help creators fully realize their ideas and maximize the value of their works.