Our Story
Hello and thank you for visiting Bobo & Nana. I’m Nana, that’s my nickname. I love to read comic books and travel. I use to think of myself as a"city girl" but recently became addicted to camping and the outdoors.
My unexpected journey down the rabbit hole in creating Bobo & Nana began during the Spring of 2017 when my best friend rescued an abandoned puppy. It wasn't the first time—she's rescued dogs, cats, and even an injured bird one time. She has the type of spirit that lost animals are just drawn to. She's so funny. We named the puppy Bobo and he would soon become the inspiration for this brand.
We first took Bobo to the vet. We found out that he was around 2-3 years old and had been living on the streets for over a week, judging by the condition of his dirty, tangled hair. He was a mess to put it kindly, but after a trim and a wash he cleaned up nicely.
The next stop was the pet store. It felt like a gigantic cold warehouse full of stuff. They carried almost everything we needed, but they didn’t have exactly what we wanted. I found a large section with collars and leashes, but they were all bland and boring. Many were made of either cheap plastic or bulky leather. I couldn’t imagine Bobo being comfortable in any of these collars and TBH they were pretty ugly.
This was what sparked my idea for creating the perfect dog collar exactly the way I wanted. I felt others would be looking for the same thing too.
I wanted to create a dog collar that was stylish and pretty. I wanted something modern yet classic and timeless. This is where my graphic and product design background came in handy. I started off by exploring colors. I love the simplicity of finding beauty in colors. I wanted to incorporate a wide spectrum of colors for everyone’s taste but also wanted to find a cohesive palate.
From the very beginning I knew I wanted to create a vegan & animal cruelty free product. I couldn’t image Bobo wearing another animal product- it just didn’t feel right. This was new territory for myself. I grew up thinking “real leather” was the best and high quality. But now non-animal products appealed to me more. That’s the direction I wanted my life to go and I quickly discovered that there are great alternatives to real leather, if not better.
I examined and inspected literally 100's of different materials to find the best ones. The vegan leather we use is the highest grade microfiber available, the same that is commonly used in luxury cars. It's amazingly scratch-resistant and easy to clean since it repels water, unlike real leather.
Finally, I set out to create a product that captured the love we have for our animal friends. I wanted to create something lightweight and comfortable to show that I cared about how they felt. To do this, I used spandex (one of God’s greatest inventions) to line the inside of the collar with padding. It’s incredibly soft and also well-ventilated. This means the collar dries quickly and stays cooler in the heat. I wish our pets could talk—I have a feeling they would be happy with our collars.
That's a little about what Bobo & Nana means to me. I hope you find something you like here, and if you don’t, please send us a comment to let us know what you're looking for. I love to hear new ideas!
