“Materials come first. We need to see it, touch it, feel it”

The return of better weather makes this time of year my favourite for extended dog walking weekends. Whether we’re enjoying our local park or a hike up in the mountains, our dog loves to burn up his stored-up energy.

This June, we’re super excited to add German design studio band&roll as a new partner to our online store. Their stylish and practical capsule collection contains portable dog walking bowls, treat bags and poop bag holders, as well as leather collars and lead sets. All handmade to your order in their family studio in Berlin using only natural materials without any plastics or silicones. We chat to Roman about their new venture.

 

You make accessories for humans and pets with an ethos deeply rooted in artisanal craftsmanship. We love your approach to sourcing materials as we curate products for people who want to buy well, not often. Tell us about how you make your products.

All our products are made in house. Everything, from sourcing materials and hardware to design and finally creating the products, goes through our hands. It is an addictive self-development in every aspect of the process.

 

Tell us about your design process. How do you approach the initial stage of moulding materials and shapes into a final product?

In our case, materials come first. We need to see it, touch it, feel it, and collect it as a puzzle of product design. There is, for sure, a lot of ideas that could not see the light, because it is sometimes hard to find suitable materials or hardware. Therefore we started to visiting international supplier fairs. I wish one day we become the size of a company which can afford to make a large order of one of a kind snap hooks according to our design. It will make our products stand out even more.

 

You merge natural wool felts with leather which is an art in itself. How did you acquire these difficult skills?

It all started with buying leather trims. And now I can say if you do not have an appropriate education on how to work with leather, but you have passion and dedication; eventually, you will learn it with time. Now we found the best Italian leather supplier, who has an ethical approach to sourcing and production. Which is the main reason to support a small business like ours, because we care!

 

You are a true family run business and work together in Berlin. How did it all start? And who is your furry muse?

We made our first phone case in 2012. We weren’t a pioneer at that time. There were already a couple of brands on the market, making leather and wool felt combination products, who inspired us in some way. But when you are addicted to sewing (like Alona, who can sew even at night 🙂 and your head is full of designs and ideas, it was hard not to give it a chance and bring ideas to life. At that time we were living on 9 sqm in the flat of my mom and all we had was a sewing machine and an insignificant amount of money.

What about our pup Mika, we are crazy pet lovers and always wanted to have a dog, so as soon as we moved out to our flat, she came to our life and made it complete. I regret that we did not launch our pet line back then in 2014. It is almost a year since we started to sell goods for dogs and we have met so many beautiful people and their pups, received and keep getting to receive letters with warm to our hearts reviews. It proves that what we do matters.

 

If you only had a few minutes and someone asked you for your best tip for dog parents, what would it be?

Be patient. Dogs are forever kids. They will always stay by your side. Please invest your time in dog’s education. Be patient and do not give up. In return, you will have a loyal friend; you will love and will be loved.

Nice to have you here

Bettina

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