Discovery
Callista Crafts has always been a brand which I admired for its effortless elegance, its soft and supple leathers and its crisp stitching. As one of the founders is a personal friend, including Callista in our curated style collection was an obvious choice.
Callista Crafts, founded in Kifissia by Eleni Agiostratiti and Vasiliki Sigalou in 2013, specializes in the creation of handmade leather bags.
Τheir love of fashion, especially handbags, complied with their vision to create timeless, emblematic accessories. The brand is not influenced by trends and seasonality but emanates pristine elegance, unmatched quality and their deferential commitment to natural beauty.
Their bags are distinguished by their excellent quality of leather, chosen and supplied from Italy, and their handcrafted details.
The four characteristic pillars of Callista are: authenticity, since their originality is unquestionable, elegance, timelessness and bespoke creations. Their philosophy successfully equates traditional techniques and handicrafts with modern style.
The four characteristic pillars of Callista are: authenticity, since their originality is unquestionable, elegance, timelessness and bespoke creations. Their philosophy successfully equates traditional techniques and handicrafts with modern style.
Up to now, they have created a huge range of bags, totes, shoulder bags, backpacks, bucket bags and other models.
At A Magic Cabinet you can find their vanity cases, exclusive to us, with fringe details and in the colours of balsam greige, violet and dark blue.
Without neglecting the Greek market, their goal is for their leather goods to eventually, conquer global markets and they already export to the United States and Switzerland.
Memory
Eleni and Vasiliki come from industries completely irrelevant to that of the fashion world. Vasiliki studied engineering at the Polytechnic School of Athens and then marketing at the American College of Greece, Deree, while Eleni studied economics and business management at the Athens School of Economics and continued with graduate studies in marketing in Geneva.
They began Callista Crafts during a period when the signs of the economic crisis in Greece were evident, as a seasonal business that created handmade sandals and distributed them mainly to the islands, while during the winter the company remained inert. They decided to try their luck in creating a bag, which would eventually transform their plans.
One of Elenis’s acquaintances in Mykonos was excited when she saw her holding it and placed a big order. One order led to the next, and their friends asked them what they were planning to do in the winter. So, Callista Crafts, as we know it today, was born as a company specializing in leather bags.
They continued to make sandals but these were not really as successful as the bags. That first tote bag led to an explosion in sales, which made the founders happy but also somewhat nervous about their next steps.
Their first tote bag led to an explosion in sales, which made the founders happy but also somewhat nervous about their next steps.
Narration
Today, 25 people are employed in the company. Eleni mainly deals with finances and oversees design, while Vasiliki mostly deals with ordering the leathers and overseeing the creation of the orders.
Callista Crafts’ success lies in the teamwork of its members who meet once a day to exchange ideas.
They always evaluate their clients’ comments, whether in person or online, and derive ideas from them for their new designs.
Right now, the two women are faced with their biggest challenge yet, as their company grows and they need to organize themselves by dividing duties and responsibilities more efficiently.
Their favourite aspect of their job is the creation of new collections, especially the process of choosing colours and designs.
A landmark for them is their recent collaboration with Mary Katrantzou for the creation of a unisex leather pochette embellished with details from Mary’s signature prints. This collaboration, among other things, made them experiment with fabrics for the first time and in this way discover another genre of creativity.
