It started with a family and a suitcase

Rafi Nova was born from a simple belief: the things we carry should be as full of story as the places we go. Founders Marissa and Adam Goldstein — parents to four kids, Raya, Efi, Noa, and Eyva — set out to make bags that make family life and travel a little easier and a lot more beautiful. (And yes, those four names are exactly where Rafi Nova comes from.)

One of a kind, by design

On their travels through Vietnam, Marissa and Adam fell in love with the brightly colored, hand-woven textiles of the Hmong people. Every Rafi Nova bag is made with vintage, hand-loomed fabrics — sourced across Vietnam and Laos and upcycled into something new. Because each textile is woven by hand, no two bags are ever exactly alike. The small variations aren't flaws; they're the fingerprint of the maker.

To this day we split our time between Boston and Vietnam, working side by side with our artisan partners to keep our craft fair, sustainable, and personal.

When the world changed, so did we

Weeks after we got started, the pandemic turned everything upside down. So we pivoted. Almost overnight, our small travel-bag company became a mask company — sewing, sourcing, and shipping as fast as we could to help protect frontline workers and families.

What happened next humbled us: more than two million masks sold, over 200,000 donated to hospitals, schools, and people in need, and a community of more than 100,000 new customers who showed up for one another when it mattered most.

Back to where we began

The masks were never the plan — they were the moment. Today we're doing exactly what we set out to do in the first place: making one-of-a-kind bags for the everyday adventure. Our archive collection is the last of our vintage-textile pieces, each one individually numbered and unrepeatable. When they're gone, they're gone.