Here at Dogster, we always root for the underdog, and we love seeing small mom-and-pop pet brands succeed. So we were excited to learn that our friends Todd and Petra Jungebluth, the husband-wife team behind tiny pet lifestyle brand Cloud 7, had scored a deal with luxury luggage giant TUMI.
Petra is a Berlin-based design maven with roots in the fashion industry (names like Tommy Hilfiger and Liz Claiborne dot her resume), and an eye for clean lines and product shapes that blend seamlessly with the modern home. So when she and Todd visited our San Francisco HQ last year and hinted that a collaboration with TUMI might be in the works, we weren’t terribly surprised. The travel brand honestly couldn’t have found a more complementary aesthetic. Observe:
Their final picks included a flight carrier for small dogs, a folding travel bed, and a water-resistant travel bowl for the road. TUMI was nice enough to send the first two items along for us to play with, and Beasley (Community Manager Lori Malm‘s pup) and my own Mr. Moxie got to put them to the test.
Todd and Petra had forwarded many fine product photos, but we thought it would be fun to stage our own little photo shoot, because our Social Media Manager Liz Acosta has a background as a pro photographer, and we like to utilize all her skills when we can. (Check out her photography site over here.)
We set up shop in Lori’s living room and let Beasley inspect the carrier. Let me just say that there’s something poetic about seeing a rescued, one-eyed, senior Pekingese in a $375 dog bag. She was a big fan of the plush lining (a removable feature), and we liked the way we could unzip the front end of the bag to make more room. Beasley is built like a small tank, and she fit nicely (with room to spare) when the piece was all zipped up.
The carrier has a detachable shoulder strap that doubles as an emergency leash, which we thought was a neat addition. We also found it to be well ventilated, with four air vents as well as mesh panels on the top, front, and back. There’s even a little pop-up feature, in case your pup feels like sneaking in a vertical stretch.
Aesthetically, my favorite aspect was the roll-down shade at the front, held up by two leather straps. Petra knows how to make things functional yet pretty darn easy on the eyes.
TUMI also sent its medium-size travel bed (it also comes in large) for Moxie to lounge on, and it didn’t take much coaxing to get him to sprawl out on its wool lining.
It’s fairly compact folded up. See?
Dogster Scorecard for Cloud 7 + Tumi’s Collection
- Quality: Above and beyond most things we’ve encountered on the market, and that’s saying something. These are pieces that have been designed to last.
- Style: A+, a study in timeless taste and minimalism. This is really not a surprise considering who designed it.
- Function: You can tell Petra put a lot of thought into how useful these items would be. The beauty of this collection is in the details, and many marry form and function seamlessly (small leather upgrades double as a slot for documents, and then there’s the detachable leash option on the carrier, as mentioned earlier on).
- Creativity: The collection is creative without being over-designed, and that’s high praise in the pet market.
- Value: Definitely on the pricier side of the spectrum. But hey, this is TUMI, so that’s not a surprise either.
Anyway, because you’ve read this far, here’s an outtake from our little shoot. Don’t Lori, Beasley, Moxie, and I make the best fake couple and furmily?
More stories by Janine Kahn:
- Should We Stay Together for the Dog?
- The Rise of “50 Shades of Fur” and Other Oddly Inappropriate Dog Toys
- Dogster Obsessions: The Starter Kit for Dogs by Wildebeest
Featured Image Credit: Yekatseryna Netuk, Shutterstock
