Introducing dog accessories by Urban Monster. We love to work with brands who cherish character and this time, we have cast our net a little further afield. We’re delighted to welcome Urban Monster from Hong Kong to our growing list of international partners. We chat to founder Nicholas Leung about running his business and about his own urban monsters.
Hi Nicholas, who are your urban monsters?
I’m a proud pet parent from Hong Kong, living with a naughty Beagle and two loyal and energetic German Shepherds!
Tell us about your brand
Urban Monster was created at first along with a friend (who is also a loving pet parent!) to satisfy our desire of designing our own products for our pets. We love simple yet bold, chic and high-quality products, and this is what we had in mind when designing the collection.
Your canine muse Benjamin seems like a confident little character. Tell us about him and his job as your product tester.
As mentioned, we designed our dog accessories with them in mind, so Benjamin is our number one product tester! With him being an energetic and naughty dog, one very important thing for our collar and leash would be its durability. They must be able to resist tugs and pulls while also easy to take off. This is how our ‘Ruff on the Streets’ collection came into life!
What was the best piece of advice you have received/the worst when starting your business?
I came from a design and hospitality background whereas my founding partner was working in finance. Neither of us had any prior knowledge on logistics and web design, but we were lucky enough to receive a lot of input and advice on these aspects from friends and family. We couldn’t have done it without them!
What does luxury mean to you?
Luxury to me would be great quality products but also comes with a high price tag. I would love our products to have the quality of luxury, but with an affordable price tag. This is why we had done a lot of market research and made sure we are pricing our products right.
If you could collaborate with anyone, who would it be and why?
I would love to collaborate with some local pet illustrators! One thing I have in mind is to create embroidery patches for their illustrations and apply them on our jumpers!
And finally, if a dog or cat owner asked you how to best pamper their pet. What would your advice be?
Spend time with them. That’s all they ask for!
Nice to have you here
Bettina