In early 2009, I was training in Portugal at a beautiful equestrian estate called Hippikos — riding dressage in the mornings, jumping in the afternoons, eating endlessly (fresh, local food that still makes my mouth water), sleeping deeply (the kind of sleep only exhaustion and satisfaction bring), and living the dream under the brightest blue skies. It was there that I fell in love — with Portugal, with the Lusitano, and with celeris.
Hippikos was also where I met Artur — though I didn’t know then that he was the founder of celeris, or that he would go on to play such a significant role in my story. Artur was a perfectionist (snap) and a master craftsman with decades of experience making high-end boots for some of the world’s most iconic luxury brands. He asked me what I thought of this new boot brand he’d been working on. The truth? At that point, I had absolutely no idea — I hadn’t even seen the boots, let alone worn a pair. But as someone with an eye for quality and a mind wired for business, I was intrigued. Who was this man with the kind of pedigree that turns heads — and could he really have created the best boots in the world?
There was only one way to find out. I had to get in the boots.
We set a date, and when it arrived, I waited patiently while Artur took 24 precise measurements — individually from both of my legs and feet. I walked away and, truthfully, didn’t think too much more about it.
But a few weeks later, the boots arrived — AND. EVERYTHING. CHANGED.
The moment I stepped into them, the moment I pulled up the zip (a moment I still remember vividly), I knew. These boots were something else. They didn’t just fit — they fit like a glove. The quality was exceptional, and for the first time, I couldn’t wait to ride purely because of the boots. My endless pursuit of the perfect pair had ended. Just like that.
The very next day, I couldn’t get on my horse fast enough. Even during the warm-up, I felt more secure in the saddle than I ever had before. It’s hard to explain, but the feeling was undeniable — that rock-solid, locked-in connection came from the unparalleled fit. The boots quite literally moulded to every contour of my leg and foot. My ankle wasn’t going anywhere — and if it had, you’d have noticed. They were Bordeaux, after all. Back then, that colour choice was considered pretty wild.
Although they were a super-tight squeeze at the first fitting, within half a day they felt like a second skin. I was riding three hours a day in 34-degree heat — a serious test for any new boots. By the end of that first day, they felt like slippers. No pressure points. No blisters. Nothing.
I’d chosen the Diogo style — simple, elegant, and finally tall enough. No wrinkles (!!), which had always been the goal but never quite happened with any off-the-peg boot I’d tried. Nothing came close to what I had on my feet now. I knew, without question, these boots were different.
A few months later, on a rainy evening in Braga, after countless meetings and hours learning the bootmaking process from the ground up, Artur and I sat down in a coffee shop. He asked me if I wanted to buy into this new little brand — to invest my heart and soul, and help build something from absolutely nothing. There was no website. No social media. Not even a brand name to speak of.
He would make the perfect boots. I would build the perfect brand. AND I took that literally.
That very night, celeris uk was unofficially born. I walked out of the café with two sample boots (not pairs!), a deck shoe (!), a foot measurer, a tape measure, and 19 colour swatches.
The rest, as they say, is history.
Did I expect this level of growth, attention, and love for the brand? In a word — yes. I knew that once these boots reached the legs of real riders, we’d succeed. I believed it completely.
But belief alone isn’t enough — and I’m not someone who settles for ‘just so.’ I wanted to be absolutely sure.
So I stayed in Portugal on and off for the next 18 months, riding three hours a day in the heat as an amateur rider, properly testing the boots in real conditions — often barely polishing them (shamefully). I also had a second pair made to check if my Bordeaux boots had been a fluke. They weren’t. The second pair fit just as perfectly.
I still own both pairs of those original boots. They still fit exactly as they did the day I first pulled them on. They’re a little faded around the edges now, but honestly? They’re as good as new. The leather hasn’t thinned. The zippers and poppers haven’t failed. And they’re still standing at the same height as day one (yippee).
I believe, without a shadow of doubt, that the unique fit of these boots is the secret to their performance. When a boot fits perfectly, the zips aren’t under strain. They don’t drop past your natural ankle bend. No excess pressure on the wrong areas. Everything stays where it’s supposed to.
Once I was finally satisfied — really satisfied — that these boots were the works of art I’d suspected from day one, campaign celeris uk officially began.
Year one was a steep learning curve. We adapted, refined, tested, and tweaked every process. By year three, we were on the map. By year five, we were almost out of control — in the best possible way. We couldn’t keep up with demand. We were in the incredibly proud but precarious position where we simply couldn’t make the boots fast enough. Our biggest issue? Lead times. Not a bad problem to have.
You can’t just hire a master craftsman overnight. But slowly, steadily, we’ve grown — from a five-person workshop to a team of twenty-five. In the beginning, we had three models and 19 colours. Now? Over 30 models and more than 130 colours, and we’re still adding more.
A lot has evolved. But one thing hasn’t changed — our founding standards and commitment to craftsmanship. Every pair of boots is still meticulously handmade.
Fast forward to today — and we have no plans to change the way we do things. That’s why we’ll always be limited in how many boots we can make. But that’s part of what makes celeris so special. True luxury isn’t mass-produced. When your blueprint is this detailed — down to the tiniest elements — time is the price of excellence.
From day one, our goal was never to be the biggest. It was to create the best riding boots. And that still holds. We continue to evolve with the times and trends, always refining, always aiming for absolute perfection.
I’m a true entrepreneur and an unapologetic perfectionist who believed in an exceptional product. Every part of this business has been built on detail — from the tiniest nuance to the most obvious elements. I notice everything. That obsession has shaped what we’ve created — not just a custom boot, but a new kind of luxury experience. And nothing gives my team more genuine satisfaction than zipping a client into their boots for the very first time.
Now, more than ever, I believe celeris boots are as close to perfect as a product can be. The quality, the craftsmanship, and without question, the performance — all speak for themselves.
As a small family-run company, we’re not trying to take over the world. But we are fiercely committed to our clients and riders — which means we’ll keep evolving, developing, refining, and advancing in every way necessary to continue producing the most innovative, high-performing riding boots in the world.
We supply to the UK, the USA, Canada and UAE, as well as to other countries in Europe where we don’t have representatives. We only work with a small handful of trusted partners — and we won’t be expanding that circle.
From all of us at celeris uk, we can’t wait to create your dream boots.
Cate
Founder | CEO
Celeris UK