In 2004, the founders of Ciao Marco, Tricia D'elba and her husband Mir Shahidullah, moved their family, daughters Alalys and Mirabella and son Marco, to Italy for the summer with hopes of moving there permanently. While traveling throughout Italy, their son Marco, who was 9 months old at the time, received the nick name Ciao Marco. It seemed that in each new town the family would stay in, people became familiar with Marco quite quickly, so each day when the family would go into town people would always say "Ciao Marco."
Everyone seemed to know the family because of Marco and they found it to be a wonderful way to meet new people and build new friendships. As the summer came to an end, the family decided it was not the right time to move to Italy but felt very moved by their experiences.
Tricia, who had been traveling to Italy for years, had always admired the way Italians dressed their children and over the years she was inspired to design dresses for her daughters with the same classic Italian tailoring. After spending the summer in Italy, Tricia was stirred to start her own line of Italian children's clothing. Naming the clothing line "Ciao Marco" seemed like an obvious decision since those words had leant to so many great experiences.
Since 2004, Tricia and Mir's goal has not only been to design beautiful children's clothing, but also to help children around the world. Currently, Ciao Marco has partnered with "Keep a Child Alive," whose focus is aid in the treatment and care of children affected by aids in Africa and India. Ciao Marco donates 5% of its proceeds to this benevolent cause.