It's like I’d stumbled upon a daycare centre for child influencers. Facing a playpen were fruit-themed items arrayed like objets d’art in a Warhol-inspired exhibition, against a candy-coloured backdrop. I then entered an inner chamber where clients were buffed and preened after their mud baths.
They looked up insouciantly, unfazed by an ogling audience. You could even say that the little sybarites barely acknowledged my intrusion, except for their twitching noses and wagging tails. This is what pampering your pooches looks like in the age of social media dominance, and FUR — a pet boutique, spa and daycare centre by global pet firm Vetreska — appears to have it down pat.
Its slick branding, according to CEO Donald Kng, is like catnip to legions of financially independent women. The Singaporean started the company with Chinese national Nico Li as students at New York’s Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT), where they’d identified a surging interest in pets while researching female consumption patterns. “The pet industry represented the best canvas for us to implement that whole feminine, well-designed, quirky women’s angle,” said Kng.
“We take elements from popular culture, societal keywords and hashtags, and reimagine them into pet products,” he added. Li designs the accessories, while they curate their food and wellness products from various suppliers. Popular creations range from their cactus-shaped cat scratching post to a ceramic feeding bowl and st.
