Made by Italy is Olyene's way of describing a product that is not just manufactured in Italy, but is born from the convergence of territories, materials, craftsmanship, research, and Italian culture. Protopia is 100% Made in Italy; “Made by Italy” describes the system of expertise that shapes it.
ITALO-SWISS ALPS
Responsible Sourcing
Our journey begins with carefully selected natural resources from partners who share our standards of quality, responsibility, and care. From ethical farming in the Italian-Swiss Alps to renewable by-products of wool production, each source is chosen for its performance, and for how it respects animals, people, and the land.
Fresh hides are transported in refrigerated vehicles rather than preserved with salt, reducing one of the most polluting stages of conventional tanning production. Natural by-products such as lanolin are recovered and enhanced within a material system with lower impact.
AOSTA VALLEY
Cultivation of Color
Protopia's botanical dyes originate from the earth. Fruits, flowers, and plants are cultivated, harvested, and transformed into natural dyes through short, traceable supply chains, particularly in the Aosta Valley.
Cultivation follows natural availability and seasonality. Color is then developed respecting the rhythms of plants and harvests: nature does not adapt to the market; rather, the product follows nature's timeline.
This variability makes each batch slightly different, giving the leather depth, character, and a chromatic quality that evolves over time.
APULIA
Agricultural Upcycling
In Puglia and throughout the Italian agricultural supply chains, we transform natural by-products into valuable new resources. The vegetation water derived from olive oil production is recovered, treated, and valorized in the Oleum® process used for leather tanning.
A substance that, if dispersed without treatment, could pose an environmental problem thus becomes part of an innovative production process. The same principle guides the use of recovered vegetable and wood fibers, transformed into lightweight components for Protopia's internal structure and insole.
This is an agricultural upcycling approach that reduces waste and gives new function to existing resources.
MILAN
Italian Design and Innovation
Milan brings to Protopia the culture of design, style, and experimentation that has made the city an international reference point. But Protopia was not conceived as a mere fashion sneaker.
Its design is the result of multidisciplinary work involving expertise from all over Italy: designers, artisans, researchers, technicians, and material experts collaborate to rethink form, construction, comfort, and impact as parts of a single project.
From material research to engineering, from experimentation to product refinement, each discipline contributes to defining the final sneaker.
The result is a contemporary Italian design that goes beyond aesthetics: precise, sensory, responsible, and built through the collective intelligence of expertise distributed throughout the Italian territory.
VENETO
Natural Transformation
In Veneto, materials and manufacturing expertise meet through processes that reinterpret traditional techniques with contemporary tools. Oleum® leather is vegetable-tanned and then processed to preserve its softness, strength, and natural character.
Vegetable tanning, hand-applied dyes, and natural protective finishes help reduce the use of chromium, toxic heavy metals, solvents, and problematic chemicals.
We design for end-of-life from the start: every transformation choice must enhance beauty, feel, and performance during use, while simultaneously making the material more compatible with a future return to nature.
VENETO
Handcrafted assembly
In Veneto, Protopia takes shape through artisanal assembly. Each component is cut, shaped, and assembled in Italy by specialized artisans, whose expertise guarantees construction precision, refined finishes, and lasting quality.
The upper is assembled with natural silk thread, chosen for its strength, flexibility, and lightness. A minimal amount of recycled nylon is used exclusively in the structural stitching that joins the upper and sole, where it is still necessary to ensure the required strength.
The objective is to combine the sensitivity of Italian craftsmanship with contemporary design capable of enhancing the product's durability, comfort, and potential for future evolution.
ITALY
Italian life and a return to nature
Once finished, Protopia begins its true life: worn, lived in, cared for, and shaped by the person who wears it. Designed as an Italian sneaker for everyday life, it combines beauty, effortlessness, and intention; elegant in the city, comfortable for daily movement, and timeless enough to outlast fleeting trends.
We design shoes meant to last, to age beautifully, to be cared for, repaired, and lived in longer. Even end-of-life is considered from the outset, according to the principles of our Positive Trace philosophy.
From the Alps to the Aosta Valley, from Puglia to Veneto, from Milan to Tuscany, Protopia is the result of an Italian supply chain of materials, territories, and expertise. 100% Made in Italy, but above all Made by Italy.
