What We’re Building at Chommies

When I started Chommies, I didn’t just want to make dog collars.

I was asking:

What kind of world are we shaping through the things we choose to make?
How do the small things reflect the bigger things we believe in?

Those questions still guide everything we do.

At first glance, we’re a business built around dogs.
But really, we’re a business built around people:

The people who craft our products by hand.
The people who know that luxury isn’t about status, it’s about time. (Time for your animals. Time to reflect, explore, think deeply, and care fully.)
The people who discover us in Cape Town and love this city as fiercely as we do.
The people who value craftsmanship and care.
The people who stop us, and you, on the street to ask where our dog’s leash is from.

Connection isn’t just a brand value for us. 
It’s the thread that holds everything together.

We believe everything is connected: people, animals, time, resources, and the natural world.

You can’t manufacture connection. And you can’t fake care.
How we treat animals says everything about who we are as a society.
And how we treat people - our team, our partners, our customers and our community - is the true measure of what we stand for.

The same goes for how we treat time, resources, and the planet.

Nothing exists in isolation: not the products we make, not the choices we ask of our customers, and not the systems we build to support it all.

That’s why Chommies chooses relationships over hyper-growth.

We want to be part of your everyday life, to help you connect more deeply with your animals, your community, and the world around you.

As the founder and owner of Chommies, I draw inspiration from daily life with my two dogs, Freddy and Heidi, here in Cape Town. Since moving here in 2009, I’ve been shaped by the rawness of this place, its nature, its people and its contrasts. From the wild beauty of the land to the way people from vastly different backgrounds coexist, often in tension, most often in grace. It’s a place that challenges you, but also moves you to contribute.

This journey isn’t fast. But step by step, we’re building a way of making that’s aligned with nature. I’ve learned most of this from dogs. They are fully present. They don’t dwell on the past or worry about what’s next. They live in the now. 

Living with dogs doesn’t just connect us to them, it brings us back to ourselves. Eckhart Tolle puts it beautifully: dogs embody pure presence and unconditional love. They are calm, healing, and heart-opening. In A New Earth, he writes that animals, especially dogs, can act as portals to higher consciousness, helping us become more aware, more peaceful, and less ruled by ego.

So, what’s next?

We’re building a brand that deepens the bond between humans and animals, starting with dogs (and soon, cats too).
Our mission is to make life with animals richer in all the ways that matter, and impossible to imagine without them.
To champion muddy paws, chewed shoes, peaceful naps, and joyful mayhem.
To treat care as a daily practice, of health, routine, patience, and presence.
To honour animals not as pets, but as full characters, with quirks, needs, moods, and impeccable comic timing.

To build something meaningful, we need you.

Your feedback.
Your ideas.
Your voice.
Your perspective.

Where do you see Chommies in the world?
Where are dogs, African design, and handcrafted care still missing or underrepresented?
And yes, every purchase makes a difference. It helps us keep doing what we believe in.

I speak for the entire team when I say: thank you.

Chommies is now 42 people strong, including 23 knitters and many freelancers who work regularly in our retail stores.
We are mostly women. We come from South Africa, Zimbabwe, Malawi, Germany and the UK. And we’re just getting started.

And here’s my biggest  and until now, well-kept secret (because I’ve always thought it was the opposite of what I do.)

Nothing makes me happier than watching joyful dogs running free, off-leash.

Let your dogs run free wherever you can. And if you need a leash, let it be a Chommies one. Be inspired to be a treat-sharer, tail-wagger, non-judgemental, in-the-now-living, easy-on-the-planet kind of human.

With love, 
Nathalie
Founder & CEO, Creative Director