The GRAZIA Career Edit: Meet Sarah Maria Gutiérrez, The Founder Of Luxury Leather Goods Brand Îacaré

Sarah Maria Gutiérrez’s career has taken her from private banking in the UK to agribusiness in South America and eventually to the world of luxury fashion. Today she is the founder, CEO and creative director of Îacaré, the contemporary luxury house she built around the concept of Yacaré leather.

Rooted in the Brazilian Pantanal and brought to life through Italian craftsmanship, Îacaré made its Milan Fashion Week debut with Collection 01, Soft Architecture, bringing together sculptural silhouettes, a considered palette, and hardware inspired by the iris of the caiman’s eye.

For Sarah, the move into fashion was never simply about creating handbags. It was about seeing potential in a material and imagining an entirely new way of presenting it. As she continues to build Îacaré and prepares to expand into menswear in 2027, she shares the career lessons, challenges and choices that shaped her journey.

Founder, CEO and Creative Director of luxury fashion house ÎACARÉ. I lead the vision of the house, from its creative direction and collections to its business strategy and international growth.

An entrepreneur. I was always fascinated by business, by creating something of my own and, above all, by the possibility of turning an idea into something real.

Anything connected to business, economics and understanding how the world works. I was always very curious and naturally drawn to entrepreneurship.

In banking. After studying International Business and Marketing in Boston and completing my MBA in London, I worked in private banking at Barclays in the UK. It was an extraordinary school for discipline, finance and understanding people.

Anything but linear — and I am grateful for that. I began in banking, later moved into agribusiness in South America, and eventually entered the world of luxury and fashion. Each chapter gave me something I needed for the next. Today, they all come together in ÎACARÉ.

A story of origin, transformation and purpose. It began in the Pantanal, where I discovered the extraordinary beauty and potential of Yacaré leather, a material deeply connected to the place and to our own story. I wanted to take that origin into an entirely different world — bringing it to Tuscany, where exceptional Italian craftsmanship transforms it into pieces that we consider wearable artworks. ÎACARÉ was born from the meeting of these two worlds: the raw beauty of the Pantanal and the savoir-faire of Italy.

I saw beauty and possibility in a material that had never been presented in the way I imagined it. I didn’t enter fashion simply because I wanted to make handbags; I entered because I felt there was a story worth telling. I wanted to elevate Yacaré through design, craftsmanship and creativity, while creating a House with its own identity and point of view.

No two days are ever the same. I can start the morning discussing a prototype with our artisans in Tuscany, move into a strategy or finance meeting, review materials and designs, speak with our team in different countries, and end the day thinking about the next collection. And somewhere within all of that, I am also a mother of three boys — which is probably my most important role of all.

Being involved in almost everything while never losing sight of the bigger picture. I am responsible for the vision and direction of the House, but I am also deeply involved in product, craftsmanship, communication, finance and growth. As Creative Director, I am particularly close to the creation of each piece. Building a young luxury House requires you to move constantly between dreaming and executing.

Has been entering an established industry as an outsider and building credibility from the ground up. Luxury has centuries of history, traditions and very defined codes. I had to learn an entirely new industry while remaining confident enough not to simply imitate what already existed. That challenge ultimately became one of our strengths: we could respect tradition while looking at it from a different perspective.

Creating ÎACARÉ itself. Seeing an idea that once existed only in my imagination become a real House, with extraordinary artisans, a growing team, clients from different parts of the world and now our second collection, is incredibly meaningful to me. Every time I see someone carrying an ÎACARÉ piece, I still feel the same emotion.

“Life is a choice.” We cannot choose everything that happens to us, but we can choose how we live it, what we create from it, and, very often, we can choose happiness.

To continue building ÎACARÉ thoughtfully and authentically. We have just unveiled our second collection, Soft Architecture, which marks an important new chapter for the House, and we are preparing to expand into menswear in 2027. More than growth for its own sake, my ambition is to build something enduring — a House with a strong identity, exceptional craftsmanship and a story that remains meaningful as it evolves.