Pet lovers, meet design lovers. Your pet’s amenities and accessories — like food bowls, blankets, collars, leads and toys — say a lot about their human’s taste. So much so that many of the industry’s top designers are putting their best foot forward to provide our furry friends with products that are not only stylish, but employ the rules of design for excellent product.
Cats and dogs are an essential part of the life at home of many people. More and more families choose to welcome four-legged, furry members and, like their human relatives, they have needs to be met.
Our editors have their eyes on both local and international designers who have launched new ranges dedicated to elevating our pets’ style at home and out and about adventures.
IKEA
Available in April 2024, Danish homegoods brand IKEA is launching UTSÅDD, a lively pet collection developed with help from vets, pet product experts, and an large panel of cats and dogs, to ensure the relevance of each product.
The playful collection of 29 products is based on our pet’s daily life, behaviours and preferences of cats and dogs at home, and focuses on four different activities: eat, sleep, play and hide. With UTSÅDD, IKEA seeks to simplify and brighten up life at home with pets by bringing joyful products that are easy to clean, resistant to everyday use and seamlessly blend into any home.
If you have the chance to pick up a piece of the collection during international travel, keep your eye out for the colourful food bowls and anti-slip placemats; soft blankets and cushy beds; Allen key- and bone-shaped toys, and a modern tent and a rattan-made house, which make hiding deliciously cosy for cats.
Hay Design
Products for pets are often very neutral and kept in earthy-coloured tones, but with HAY’s collection, they become a visible touch of colour instead of something purely utilitarian.
For design and dog-lovers alike, there has never been more products in the market that bridge these to appreciations. Danish brand HAY is widely known and collected by established and young design-lovers for the intelligent, yet affordable pieces, and now your pets can too.
The idea for HAY Dogs came about when Mette Hay and her friend Barbara Maj Husted Werner - owner of the fashion and interiors boutique Holly Golightly - were on one of their routine dog walks in the woods north of Copenhagen. With Hay’s passion for elevating everyday objects and Holly Golightly’s innate sense of style, they decided to collaborate on a series of cheerful accessories that invite dog owners and their pets into the HAY universe.
Chommies
Borrowing from the South African term for pals, Chommies presents a colourful world of accessories, handcrafted by local artisans in its Cape Town studio. With a concept store dedicated to their pet accessories and more, House of Chommies invites you into the world of the beloved local brand whose signature pet collars, with the distinct bright colours and woven rope are spotted on many South African pets.
Even one of Cape Town’s iconic hotels have opened their doors to four-legged guests with the help of Chommies. The Mount Nelson, a Belmond hotel has collaborated with Chommies on bespoke playful everyday essentials, novelties and gift ideas. For a more relaxed aesthetic there’s an array of rope collars, leashes and key rings in the Tennis Court colourway and a knitted Nellie tennis ball picnic blanket.
