Hommey founder Justin Kestelman has spent the better part of a year running trials on his newest product range, testing prototypes in real-world settings with some very demanding end users. It’s been harder than usual getting direct feedback from participants, though, since most of them are dogs. (There’s the odd cat and rabbit, too.)
Now the Melbourne-based home and lifestyle label – built on a core range of snuggly cushions – is ready to launch its first pet collection. And Kestelman is confident all the trial and error has been worth it.
“It’s been a long process, but it’s been amazing,” he tells Broadsheet. “We really have validated a lot of the expectations of dogs, and their owners.”
The new collection offers machine-washable pet beds, soft pet blankets and bone-shaped pillows – made with Hommey’s signature bouclé and faux fur – in a range of human-pleasing colours. Plus, there are handsome bouclé leads for when you need to go walkies.
For Kestelman, the pet collection is a natural move. “We keep talking about comfort at Hommey. A pet is such an important element of what makes us feel comfortable at home – it grounds us, it’s what makes us happy,” he says.
And what makes pets happy? After all his research, Kestelman reckons it comes down to three things.
“Dogs want squishy comfort,” he says. “You can go and create a really beautiful product, but at the end of the day they love something that’s soft and that they can sink their body into.” So an initial bed prototype made from 100 per cent memory foam was improved with a softer layer “almost like a mattress topper” to combine orthopaedic support with squishiness.
The second necessity? “They want to put their head on something.” So there’s an in-built bolster for muzzle resting, Kestelman says.
The third element “was around scratchiness” and destruction. “We had some dogs that scratched a lot,” he says. “And some that scratched less. So we needed a fabric that caters to the majority, and our cushion material has now been tested on dogs as well as humans. It’s a very durable, very resistant fabric.”
Still, you can’t please everyone, Kestelman admits. “I think we only had one dog that shredded it to pieces. But it’s like, that dog is going to shred anything! It doesn’t matter what you put in front of it! We thought that success rate was pretty good.”
Hommey’s pet collection drops February 21, and pre-orders are available now online.
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