Here is a little known fact about GoSee. Both our Cologne and London office teams include cats. Yes that’s right our furry moggy friends are an integral part of the team. They come and go as they please but they pop into the office every now and again to check up on us, just like all important executive decision makers should.
So when we discovered Mo’woof and Mo’meow’s stylish high-end leather collars we thought we’d let the cat out of the bag and celebrate our love of the lesser-known members of our team. We reckon quite a few of our readers also have a four legged friend or two who wouldn’t mind a fashionable accessory update that will last a lifetime.
New Zealand born and based designer Kathryn Leah Payne established her own premium leather accessories label for pets in 2012. All her goods, both for humans and animals are individually handmade in her homeland combining traditional craftsmanship and contemporary techniques to create fresh yet timeless designs using the finest quality leathers and hardware. All of the pet designs are lovingly custom made.
There are so many wonderfully named accessories to pick from but the GoSee editorial team is particularly fond of the beautifully filigree tooled leather collar, entitled The Koru King, which features a bold laser etched Maori Koru detail.
The Koru design is a traditional symbol of the indigenous Polynesian people of New Zealand or Maori and is a spiral shape inspired by the outline of a freshly unfurling silver fern frond. This new leaf traditionally symbolises new life, growth, strength and peace making it a perfect choice to protect our canine best friends, companions and protectors.
The feline department at GoSee can’t wait to get their paws on The Fat Cat a refreshingly chunky and bold punky collar for cats. Complete with elastic safety release in case he or she gets caught in a tricky situation, but without a bell for warning birds of their approach we noticed. Our kitties are impressed. Not just the four legged ones - Kathryn also makes fierce peter pan style studded skull leather collars for ladies and rocking cuffs for boys and girls.
GoSee got in touch with the skilled designer to find out more - here is our short interview…
What inspired you to start Mo'woof?
I’ve always loved dogs and after my partner and I got a dog together I became frustrated by the lack of high quality dog collars and leads available in New Zealand, it became obvious fairly quickly that I should be designing and making my own range (I am a fashion designer by trade) so I started Mo’woof Collar Co. Before launching I spent months researching, sourcing, designing and testing. My quality standards are very high so all my collars and leads are made using super durable saddlery leathers and only solid brass or stainless steel hardware so they will never rust or corrode.
What are the most popular styles and most popular breeds?
I guess the small breed collars sell the best, The Green Eyed Monster, The Mini Heartbreaker, The Lolly Scramble and The Queen Of Hearts are popular but I also sell lots of medium breed collars like The Vogue Nouveau and The Night Owl and one off custom styles for people who want something different. All Mo’woof pieces are made to order in my Christchurch studio, everything is done by hand including hand cutting, bevelling, dyeing and burnishing the edges of each piece. I even hand set each individual stud to the mm.
What is the strangest commission you've had?
I haven’t really had any particularly strange commissions, I do get a lot of people joking about me going down the S and M path and that’s probably something I could venture into one day. I’m sure it would do well but it’s not on the cards at the moment!
When did you start Mo'meow?
I began doing Mo’meow collars because lots of my friends have cats and I started getting requests, it seems people are either dog people or cat people so I thought I should tap into that too as no one else in New Zealand is doing it.
You also do collars for causes, tell us a bit about that?
I really admire and respect what all the animal charities out there do and I wanted to be able to contribute, even if just a little to help them out. I’ve just released my first Charity collar and it’s for a local dog shelter, I’ll be giving 20% of the total sale from each collar direct to that charity and will be designing more Collars for Causes soon.