Above: Designer, Helena Pantahos, wearing shoes she handmade at RMIT.
The designer
The name behind the brand is Helena Pantahos, a South Australian shoe designer with a life-long obsession for shoes.
Helena’s passion led her to studying Creative Textiles at Marden Senior College and Custom Made Footwear at Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT), where she learnt the art of making shoes by hand.
In February 2018, Helena travelled to Milan to attend both MICAM and Lineapelle, the leading shoe and textile expos in Europe, and now her designs are hand-made in Italy by artisans who have brought her vision to life with their attention to detail and expertise.
Drawing inspiration from art, nature and beauty, the designer creates shoes that are objects of desire for those who express through style.
Not only is Helena’s passion for design embedded into Desyllas, but also her personal ethos that no one should have to suffer for one’s vision, meaning that she works only with ethical factories and uses vegan materials.
Helena envisions a world of inspiration, expression, kindness and possibilities, and that is the #WorldOfDesyllas.
OUR MISSION
Our mission at DESYLLAS is to provide beautiful, vegan shoes for those who are both lovers of fashion and passionate about living cruelty-free.
DESYLLAS strives to be a change-maker in the industry. We believe that if you are choosing to be more ethical that you shouldn’t have to give up on your love for stylish shoes, and now you don’t have to. From concept to creation our shoes are infused with love, passion and respect for the people, animals, and the earth.
Our top two priorities are humane working conditions and veganism. We honour this by having our shoes handmade in Italy by artisans who understand the art of shoe making, are passionate about their work, and are working in safe conditions. DESYLLAS shoes are made using all vegan materials to ensure that no animals are harmed or killed in the making.
MATERIALS
The Majesty stiletto is the design we have released, and they are made using a high quality polyurethane (PU) that is made in Italy. PU is a flexible, resilient, durable, water-resistant and anti-bacterial material. We chose this because it is the closest match to animal leather and we are committed to providing beautiful, vegan, ethical shoes that don’t compromise on style or quality.
We’re not going to greenwash the situation. PU is made using plastic, however, I think it is valuable to know that even so, the production of PU has a significantly smaller impact on the environment when compared to the production of leather, according to the Higgs Index.
This is not our end goal and we are currently researching even more sustainable materials to use in our future collections. We are always looking for ways to improve our environmental footprint, while still remaining true to our mission.
GIVING BACK
We have partnered with One Tree Planted to start our journey on giving back. Every time a pair of DESYLLAS shoes is bought, one tree is planted. This is just the beginning of our journey to give back to planet earth and communities that we are passionate about.
As DESYLLAS is an Australian label, we have chosen to donate to trees planted in a location close to home. The trees are planted in Western Australia and New Zealand, where they are working closely with indigenous communities to plant a diverse mix of local, native species to support the bushfire recovery and habitation restoration.
