Sweet smell of success for sustainable WA dog brand – The West Australian

It may be fun to dress your dogs up in stylish apparel but there’s nothing cute about the stench that quickly settles in from even just a day’s wear.
Danielle Hall, from Crooked Brook in WA’s South West, discovered it was near impossible dressing her golden retriever in any type of coat during the colder months without dealing with the odour the garments would quickly accumulate.
So when it came time to design her own line of dog jumpers under her Huskimo label, an odourless material was high on the priority list.
“I researched natural alternatives for odour protection and found a company in California that had patented a process that uses collodial silver to treat fabrics called Silverclear®,” she reveals.
“The smell from a dog coat comes from bacteria which grows and emits odours. This technology eliminates bacteria, mould, and fungi.”
As an added bonus, it was originally used in the treatment of wound care for humans so it is very safe, hypoallergenic and non-toxic.
“This technology is featured in the two best-selling coats, Summit and Sherpa,” she says.
She began the brand with jumpers and when they completely sold out, she expanded into coats and tethering.
And with fast fashion and its environmental implications quickly going out of style in the human world, Hall ensured her dog clothing was also made sustainably.
“I firmly believe that ‘longevity is the ultimate sustainability’ — Huskimo is made with quality materials and techniques that make the products last,” she says.
“I don’t like seeing ‘fast fashion’ where apparel is made cheaply and does not last so ends up in landfill. I have customers who still send me photos of their dogs wearing coats that are a few years old.”
Each year, Huskimo progresses with a sustainable initiative, recently changing all its dust protection covers to biodegradable, removing plastic tags, and reducing the number of swing tags and used recycle materials.
“There is more we can do, particularly in reducing landfill so this is a project I am working on where we can recycle components of tethering and apparel,” Hall says.
Huskimo recently expanded to New Zealand and has plans to enter the European market.
Pet Circle head vet Dr Teagan Lever offers the following tips:
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© West Australian Newspapers Limited 2022

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