meet the maker

Our beautifully handmade collars and leads were created with a vision full of nostalgia, a childhood spent with horses and dogs in the countryside near Lake Rotorua, New Zealand. For founder Gemma Garrity, it was here that her lifelong appreciation for beautiful leather and saddlery began.

From Ancient Egypt to the Wild West, humans have reaped the benefits of leather for thousands of years. In a world where nothing was wasted, and life was about protection from the elements, leather was an armour in the battle to survive. Centuries have come and gone, but in more recent times, leather manufacturing has changed. Natural, but laborious and time-consuming tanning processes, have been overtaken by quicker methods using chemicals like chromium. Large scale manufacturing has also had a devastating impact on the environment. 

So, when Gemma was looking for a quality, comfortable collar to give her new puppy Rosie while living in Melbourne, her heart told her it had to be leather, but her head was reminding her to be environmentally conscious.

“Every leather collar I picked up was seemingly made en masse by machine - that was not what I wanted. I quickly realised how difficult it was to find a collar that had the quality and feel of an English bridle, and was also ethical and environmentally friendly. It was looking like I would need to compromise on one of these things, until one day, I was in a second-hand shop and came across a beautiful, worn leather belt. As I was admiring the soft leather, a friend - knowing my conundrum - suggested perhaps I could make a collar out of it. It seemed like such a simple way to solve my problem that I bought the belt and turned to Google. I ordered a basic leather making kit online, spent hours learning the ancient technique of saddle stitching, and from my dining table in Melbourne, I hand crafted my first ever collar. Friends wanted one, then friends of friends, and before I knew it, I’d made hundreds of collars and leads for every breed of dog in Australia, New Zealand and even as far as London and New York. 

While the dining table was great (especially during the pandemic), I couldn’t keep up with demand, and wanted to take my dream further. But I needed to do it the right way. I believed that if I was thoughtful about the way I created my products, I could educate and encourage people to be conscious about the way they consume. So, over the last two years I have searched around the world to find suppliers and craftspeople who share my values and ethics.

Our artisans in Java are carrying out my desire, for dogs in Australia and around the world to have beautiful classic accessories, and their owners to have a clear conscience”