We’re so excited to share this warm and fuzzy interview with Donna the maker behind Comfy Tails taking the lead in celebrating our fur friends by keeping them snug and colourful! You may of been lucky enough to shop Comfy Tails in person at our last Sydney event, the great news is you can now shop Comfy Tail at Finders Keepers Online Marketplace! Read on for business insights, surviving CoVID and dressing your fur friends better than you!
Who is behind Comfy Tails and how did it start?
Comfy Tails all started when I was looking for bedding for our dog Lulu, I was wanting something made from natural, aesthetically pleasing fabric but there wasn’t much available, only brown rectangles of sadness. So I thought I’d make her something myself with the help of my daughter, Alice. The bed was not only a hit with Lulu but our cat Gigi loves them as well and she’s usually on the one in the front window. Alice convinced me that we could make some beds to take to a market stall and then said: “You can’t just take beds, you have to take collars and leashes too!” And then it was blankets, harnesses and cat collars and the list just keeps getting longer and now has even more accessories including coats which will be coming soon!
What influences your work, and what sparks your creativity?
We love a bold, bright, colour and print and the perfect place to put it is your pet! When people see my stall at the market their eyes light up and they start to smile at all the bright fun colours we use. Every detail is important, from the beginning we’ve thought about fabrics, print, durability and sizes of our products. Each signature print is individually painted or screen printed onto our fabrics by us using non toxic paints. We make everything ourselves in our studio so it can become a bit chaotic to say the least.
All of our customers love the fact that they can mix and match, colour and print on any of our products, creating their perfect combination for their pets personality! It’s so nice to get pictures from people who have staged mini photoshoots with their pets featuring Comfy Tails. There have been a lot of cute dog pictures that have been continuing to come through our inbox keeping us inspired! This may have been the plan all along, we just want more cute dog photos in our Instagram feed!
How has the COVID-19 crisis affected your business and how have you managed to navigate through this period?
Just like everyone else, things came to an abrupt halt. Our regular weekend markets closed and larger interstate events were sadly also cancelled. Even though we are a young business that has only been operating for a year, we have already found and formed a great customer base that have continued to support us as much as they can over the last few months. We’ve continued working to bring new products to Comfy Tails based on popular feedback and requests from customers we meet at markets. We have been updating our website and trying to work on bringing our new products to our online store as quickly as we can make them. There will be a new range of accessories being released online over the coming months so make sure you keep an eye out!
River Leash 
Flower Power Harness 
Squiggle Collar 
Acute Angles Bed
What are you watching / reading / listening to right now that is inspiring and uplifting?
I think this is our 3rd time watching ‘Escape to the Chateau’, Angel is an absolute design goddess with so many amazing ideas! It’s a great source of ideas and ways to reuse things you might have laying around the house, I highly recommend putting this on your ‘to watch’ list.
In the Comfy Tails studio we love a good podcast or audio book, so after we’ve listed to Harry Potter and the Lord of the rings AGAIN, “Somehow Related” with Dave O’Neil and Glenn Robbins is a good bit of lighthearted noncess to have on in the studio while we work. “Conversations” from the ABC Radio is a great podcast and a good way to learn about different people who make up our community. One thing we can suggest is to make sure you remember to watch / read / listen to / do something that makes you happy!
What’s your perfect doggie adventure and go-to Comfy Tails accessories to take with you?!
We love to spoil our girl Lulu and as of today, she takes up the bigger half of a wardrobe filled with custom coats and pajamas and currently has 5 different beds placed strategically in different windows to make the most of the sunny spots throughout the day. So when she manages to get out of bed (sometimes as late at midday) and make it to the park she’s always dressed better than us. Lulu always leaves the house with a beautiful, bold and bright Martingale collar and leash, and as the weather cools down she layers up with pajamas and a padded coat to keep her toasty warm. We love seeing people’s reactions when they see her prancing around in her fashionable outfits, and we know Lulu loves the attention too!