An up-and-coming business based in North Vancouver is making pet accessories with an emphasis on quality – and fashion.
Puccissimé Pet Couture (pronounced pooch-EE-see-may) produces a range of high-end wares manufactured in Canada with materials from domestic suppliers.
Available in a range of colours and patterns, the leashes, collars and bowties go for around $25-$40, while the brand’s “one-click” harness retails for $80-$130. A set will run you around $70-$163.
For many pet owners, the sky’s the limit, but Puccissimé founder Ahoo Entesarian says her products aren't frivolous.
“The moment you say something is luxury, it not only sounds useless, it sounds expensive,” she said. “We're trying to avoid that.”
While her brand has a designer feel, she explained that she didn’t want to go over the top with pricing.
The materials Puccissimé uses include vegan leather and high-cotton polyester rayon fabric. Entesarian also uses full-grain quality leather from Europe, but she buys it from a supplier in Calgary.
While the prim and proper bowties might catch your eye, Entesarian’s signature product is the harness.
When she tried to find the right harness for her toy poodle Raisin, she tried “millions” before giving up.
“I thought, ‘Why don't I just design my own harness?’ because every single harness I used on her didn't really work,” Entesarian said. “They were either too tight, or too hard to put on or not very good quality.”
So she made her own – one that addressed all the shortcomings she experienced, and is a bit fancy, too. The harness is designed to be good for dogs that pull, because it sits on the chest area and doesn’t choke them. The materials used don’t mat the dog fur, according to Entesarian. And there’s only one buckle, so it’s easy to put on.
“When I did that, everybody loved them,” Entesarian continued. “My friends were like, ‘This is what we've always been looking for.’”
After the harness innovation, she transitioned from selling other people’s pet wares online to producing her own brand.
Now, Entesarian is expanding her business. She opened a showroom in Lonsdale Quay, where she customizes some of her accessories to customers’ specifications.
Puccissimé won the Best Innovative Business Award at last year’s Vancouver Christmas Market, and this year was named best luxury walking solutions for small dogs by Luxlife Magazine as well as B.C. pet product manufacturer of the year by Canada Prestige Awards.
You can find the products at puccissime.com or the showroom at Unit 220 of the Waterfront Business Centre, near the SeaBus in Lonsdale Quay. Or, they’re in Lower Mainland stores like barking babies in Yaletown, Dashing Dawgs in Coal Harbour and Puptown Girls in Burnaby.
The company donates 10 per cent of profits to charities including BC SPCA and Paradise Charity Group.
