about us

the beginning of our journey with ciao totes.

at that time, we were three students at université laval, studying accounting, finance, and marketing, with a simple idea in mind: to create a tote bag that students would actually want to use every day on campus.

a practical, durable, and well-designed bag, built to keep up with busy, full days.

the creation of the outdoor blanket.

the idea was born after a mountain bike ride on a slightly too cool summer evening. while talking, we started asking ourselves what truly defines the soul of ciao totes. the answer quickly became clear: to support people in their activities and make the moments that follow even more comfortable.

as outdoor enthusiasts, we thought: why not create a blanket designed for après-ski, après-ride, après-trail. those moments matter just as much as the activity itself.

with this outdoor blanket, we’re expanding ciao totes’ playground by offering a versatile, durable, and functional product, designed to keep moving — no matter where the day (or the evening) takes us.

the creation of the dry peak.

for the first time, we decided to invest heavily in product development. coming mainly from finance and marketing backgrounds, we knew we had to surround ourselves with the right people to go further.

so we chose to work with a product design student from université de montréal to develop a dry bag designed in the image of ciao totes.

we were tired of waterproof bags made only for water sports — impractical for everyday use, visually unappealing, and often made from polluting materials. our goal was clear: to rethink the dry bag so it naturally fits into an active lifestyle, between work, sport, and spontaneous outings.

a pivotal year for ciao totes.

in may, étienne and xavier made the leap to working full time to support the company’s growth, which was seriously starting to cut into our sleep. to support this new phase, we moved into a warehouse better suited to our needs, allowing us to gain efficiency and flexibility in our day-to-day operations.

2025 also marks the launch of our custom tote platform, designed to give businesses, organizations, and events simple access to durable, well-designed products that stay true to the dna of ciao totes.