Karl Lagerfeld was well-known for his fashion designs, however, his cat was almost as famous as he was.
Now a brand on its own after Lagerfeld’s death, Choupette has collaborated with two German designers on a luxury cat accessories collection.
LucyBalu founders Sabastian Frank and Mathias Wahrenberger met at an animal shelter three years ago and decided to start a business designing cat accessories.
What began as a ‘crazy idea’ between the two friends, evolved into a full business model, developing sensible and beautiful high-quality cat furniture.
“We founded LucyBalu in 2019 and we are only at the beginning of our mission,” says Frank.
“A cooperation with Choupette was the opportunity for us to bring our modern cat furniture closer to the world. After several attempts, we managed to get in touch with Choupette’s agent in early 2020. We were able to convince him to give our startup a chance and send one of our hammocks to Françoise (Choupette’s minder and close friend of Lagerfeld).”
The range includes a cat carrier, a food bowl and a special edition of the swing hammock. Frank admits that retailers weren’t quite ready for the brand yet when they launched.
“Pet retailers didn’t really understand the products and lifestyle stores weren’t quite ready for a luxury cat collection. Then Covid hit and we started selling straight to consumers. We believe retailers and distributors are more open now to a brand like ours and that’s why we are at the fair this year.”
Frank says they thought about launching into dog accessories, but he believes there are still so many things they can do with products for cats.
“We haven’t even scratched the surface yet when it comes to cat accessories and furniture, but maybe in the future we will branch out into other categories.”
The Munich based brand donates all returned LucyBalu items, which is about three per cent, to German shelters.
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