Born & Made In Italy
I spent the last 6 months working on La Callisto, a new project born from my love of all things leather and my beloved pets.
It is a project that me and my partner created to honor our pets and put those leatherworking skills to good use.
Join me as today I give you a short presentation about La Callisto, my new Luxury Leather Pet Accessory Project.
Love For Our Pets
This year is proving to be the most challenging yet in my life, even more than 2023.
Challenges and revelations popping up left and right, both in the personal and business level.
Despite my roots in leatherworking, I have an enormous, unconditional love for pets and animals in general.
In 2023 and 2024 I got my first own pets, two wonderful Holy Birman cats that I adore with every ounce of my existence.
My cats are the pillars of my strength and motivation to move forward and tackle anything thrown my way.
I realized their influence and importance immediately and this was my inspiration to create La Callisto.
Me and my partner identified a lack of unique – yet functional – and genuinely handmade luxury leather accessories for pets.
This is when we got the idea to use our skills to fill this gap and make owners and pets happy all over the world.
La Callisto – The Name
Choosing a name for your pet can be an important and challenging choice.
After all, they will be your friends for the better part of a decade in most cases.
Coming from Greece, I love our mythology as well as all things Norse.
My first cat’s name is Toulouse (taken from the Aristocats) but her formal name is Callisto who was a nymph of Artemis.
My boy’s name is Zephyros which is a Greek gentle wind, while his other name is Loki because he is a little mischievous.
We decided to fuse these names with “La” which in Italian defines a female word.
After all, I live in Florence which is a cradle for leatherworking and inspirational leather goods.
Thus, “La Callisto” was born.
Each product has an inspiring name from all the stories we love and heavy inspiration from Greek & Roman Mythology.
What Is La Callisto About?
You see, in the beginning the idea was to produce handmade, high quality leather accessories for pets.
In our minds however, it expanded into a concept that goes beyond those borders.
A pet and its owner form a beautiful understanding and bond that is the closest thing to having a child.
By limiting ourselves to products only for animals, we would exclude the owner and thus this bond.
We want to make shopping at La Callisto an experience, not very different from the one you receive at The Noble Shoe.
This is why the future plan is to develop goods and accessories also for owners so you can both look dashing together.
Genuinely Handmade In Italy
The word “handmade” has reached cult status now as one of the most overused buzzwords out there.
Making something with your hands is different than making it with a machine you operate with your hands.
An exception for large pieces is stitching, which just like the dress shoe industry is a far more time consuming, expensive challenge that requires a sewing machine.
We decided to take La Callisto down the classic, artisanal path of making things with our hands.
This means that all products are cut and assembled by hand using the finest leather we can find.
In particular, we use the finest Premium Full Grain Calfskin with a grain pattern from the best areas of the animal.
The same applies for the internal padding and lining leather.
All edges are painstakingly and meticulously hand-painted with multiple layers of dye.
While sewn via a machine, there are many areas that require a manual saddle stitch that gives it that extra feel.
As for the hardware, we got the best we could find while in the process of developing our own, marine grade stainless steel hardware.
You cannot go any more “Made in Italy” or “Made in Florence” than this.
It’s a significant challenge, but I am really proud of the result.
Steps & Design Process
Designing a new product is not as simple as it sounds.
While the concept of a dog collar sound simple, it’s not just cutting some leather, adding some hardware and some stitches.
You need strength, padding, internal materials, correct measurements and precision cutting for the hardware to fit properly.
The design begins as an idea based on mood boards and inspirational material from your environment, but also what is lacking around us.
For La Callisto we wanted to incorporate beautiful, versatile colors and for the brand to showcase the beauty and allure of Florence.
Embossed grain leather can take a beating and is easy to maintain and definitely has a more unique look to it.
After finishing the first measurements and mock ups, it was time to make a full scale prototype.
We spent all summer in a small workshop in Florence, cutting and making and painting everything.
The result though will never cease to put a smile on our face.
Products | Current Line Up
La Callisto begins with a small, core collection of essentials.
Collars, Leashes and two upcoming harnesses.
Now, while most of you will use such products for dogs, our leash and smallest collar is also appropriate for cats.
Our cats love to take a stroll outside with us and what better way to enjoy it in safety.
The Zephyros Leather Collar is a beautiful slim collar that comes in 4 colors and 5 sizes (XS, S, M, L, XL).
Certain breeds of dogs such as hounds however require special collars for their slim necks.
This is why we also designed the Aura Hound Collar, with a softer, larger front panel that hugs your hound’s neck while not putting much stress on it.
Just as the rest of the items, it comes in the same 4 colors and 5 sizes.
When it comes to leashes, we had to think about comfort and flexibility.
The Nyx Leather leash is a classic, functional and beautiful leash for all occasions.
For those that need something longer or flexible, we also made the Atreus Multi-function Leash which has a few points you can use the snap hook on on the fly.
If you need a shorter leash, you can make it in seconds, while if you prefer an Indiana Jones cross-strap version you are free to do that.
As for the Harnesses, we have two prototypes that will soon go into production, as well as a minimalist, tasteful waste bag.
Pricing, Quality & Longevity
We already touched on the quality of the materials and the designs.
But it is still important to reiterate that this is a handmade product, made with love and care using traditional techniques.
This means that there will be nuances on each product that are signs of the handmaking, but they are not defects of any kind.
Each article requires hours and hours to make, making the cost higher than your average low quality pet accessory.
However the intention is for each item to be what we like to call “Buy it for life” and as sustainable as possible.
Of course, normal wear and tear is to be expected and ultimately it is the owner’s responsibility to nourish and clean the leather.
Our leather will last long and only get better in time.
As far as pricing goes, here is our starting prices for Misiu Academy readers or The Noble Shoe shoppers:
- Zephyros Slim Leather Collar: $95
- Aura Hound Leather Collar: $115
- Nyx Leather Leash: $115
- Atreus Multi-Function Leash: $145
Shipping is free over $200 and will ship in lovely packaging with DHL Express.
For a limited time, you can use the code NOBLESHOE for 10% Off until the end of the year.
Hoping to See You!
Thank you for taking the time from your busy schedule to take a look my new project.
I am really proud of it, during a year of real challenge.
Supporting a local artisan and caring for your pet is the best gift you can give us.
In the meantime, let’s see what else we can do for the remainder of the year.
Let me know what you think about La Callisto in the comments!
Thank you for reading,
Kostas Mandilaris,
Misiu Academy
