The power of design

Everything started with the dog that the Clito Group’s designer acquired six years ago. It was 2008, and a very small, three-month-old dog arrived, a puppy suffering separation from its mother. “The designer was looking for a suitable dog bed to provide comfort for the dog in its misery. Because she couldn’t find one, she decided to design one herself,” recalls Antonio Manfio, one of the owners of the Clito Group. “That is why she created the Ely dog bed, a soft cushion featuring the form of a flower ready to receive and embrace her baby pet.” The technician in charge of moulds and patterns helped her to create a base in ABS plastic to sustain the cushion for small to medium-sized dogs. The Lidy Factory brand was founded two years later on that base, in 2010. Since then it has taken advantage of the equipment and experience of the Clito Group, a manufacturing company specialising in the production of foundry patterns, moulds for polyurethane moulding, thermoforming moulds, rotational moulds, prototypes and moulds for design elements, to create pet accessories manufactured wholly in Italy. The company now has premises of around 500 m2 in size and has 20 employees in total, 4 of them dedicated to the Lidy Factory brand. All production is carried out in the company using Italian materials. “After the Ely dog bed, we went on to develop a whole line of cushion products and the design idea behind them. We took concepts and reshaped them in an artisan way for our pets. The Corona and Onda dog beds represent an example of this,” says Manfio. These cushion products are covered only with luxury textiles used in the furnishing sector, i.e. certified, washable and impermeable cotton and eco-leather. Over time, the product range has expanded to include more design concepts, like carriers, tatamis and feeders.

Main product lines and collections
The assortment mainly comprises two lines: the sartorial range Basic Line and the industrial line Design Line. The Basic Line includes a whole range of dog beds, feeders, carriers, cushions and accessories, while the Design Line also covers the new product Bubble Bowl. “They are both artisan lines but the second one is produced using more industrial machinery.” Another important difference is the price: the Basic Line is in…