THE LOVE STORY
Our story begins with you; our fellow animal-loving tribe and the love we share for our treasured fur companions. LOVE TEDICI was inspired in 2020, when our sweet maltipoo Ted and I moved to Florence. What was meant to be a few months respite from the confines of a locked-down New York City, turned into meeting Ted's "paw-paw" and the rest as they say is history.
Discovering Florence is a journey through time at the heart of slow fashion. This ancient city is not only the birthplace of the Italian Renaissance, it is the global mecca for production of fine luxury goods. From Ferragamo and Valentino, to the boutique artisanal shops lining the streets, everywhere you turn, you'll find quality craftsmanship at its finest. You can’t help but stop and marvel at the meticulous artistry of even the humblest satchel from the city’s leather markets. Surrounded by all this beauty, in a city crawling with artisans, created a nagging question: why? Why was it always so hard to find pet products that came anywhere close to this level of quality?
MASS MARKET BRANDS
The unfortunate reality is that most pet products available are made of low-cost, synthetic materials. If you look around your local pet supply shop, you'll find aisle after aisle of PVC-coated harnesses, leashes and collars (containing toxins such as cadmium, chlorine and lead, to name a few). Often these products are sprayed down with anti-fungicides before being packed-up and shipped by the ton via ocean cargo ships. From the chemical composition of these synthetic materials to the harmful dyes being used to produce them and the finishing spray applied before they get piled onto a shipping container; these toxins show up everywhere and have a profound impact on our pet's health. Prolonged exposure to these chemicals can manifest in anything from upset stomachs and skin allergies, to cancer. They are hiding in your pet’s accessories, their favorite chew toys and the food and water bowls they eat and drink out of each day.
FAST FASHION, GLOBAL IMPACT
Overwhelmingly, these mass-market brands manufacture in countries housing factories with poor labor conditions and very low standards for commercial use of harmful chemicals and dyes. As a result, they’re extremely cheap to produce, but are too often unsafe for our pets, our planet and the people who are making them. What’s more, lacking in both design innovation and quality, they have a very short lifecycle. Most mass market pet products end up in a landfill within less than one year.
A SUSTAINABLE WAY FORWARD
Our philosophy is lifetime over landfill. We are animal LOVERS and understand how important it is to give our fur family the very best. LOVE TEDICI carriers and accessories are made from 100% natural, vegetable-tanned leather and are hand-dyed using organic tannins from trees and flowers. Each carrier is lined with GOTS certified organic cotton. Our entire collection is made in Italy from sustainable materials sourced locally. Our commitment to you is that with any LOVE TEDICI product you own, you can sleep easily knowing that you're providing your pet with some of the most sustainable, ethical and well-designed products on the market.