British luxury cat lifestyle company Cheshire & Wain celebrates 10 years of delighting cats and their owners. Since its launch, the brand has sold more than 15,000 collars to an international market, putting cats front and centre of ‘feline’ good.

The company was born out of Founder Sonja Farrell's frustration with the limited availability of high-quality cat products, specifically in the realm of leather cat collars that were both safe and stylish for her new kitten, Percy. Finding the absence of leather collars equipped with breakaway safety clips, Sonja dedicated six months to designing the perfect solution, making it a central focus of her efforts.

A decade on, luxury leather collars remain their core focus, bringing joy to cats and their parents through creative collections like Wonderland, featuring collars inspired by Lewis Carroll's characters. The Caviar collection offers six luxury designs in novelty Caviar tins, and their grandest release, Rococo, draws inspiration from Marie Antoinette and Rococo style (worth viewing if only to see cats in Georgian wigs). In 2021, they returned to their safety-meets-style roots with Lumino Lux — hyper-reflective collars for outdoor kitties, followed by matching reflective AirTag cases.

In the same year, Cheshire & Wain also launched their Louis Wain collar collection in homage to the iconic artist and the brand’s namesake. This caught the attention of Studiocanal, who sought out Cheshire & Wain as their ‘cat’ partner for the cinematic release The Electric Life of Louis Wain, starring Benedict Cumberbatch and Claire Foy, celebrating the legendary artist's life. 

Cheshire & Wain has grown in other ways too, adding Penelope to the cat family in 2019, as well as extending their offering to better the lives of cats, their homes, and their humans. Proud supporters of British business, Cheshire & Wain have worked closely with fellow small companies and independent designers since their early beginnings, starting with Made by Swimmer to create an ever-growing embroidered catnip toy range.

Elevating cat meal times, Cheshire & Wain also worked with ceramicist Rachel Dormor for the production of the brand’s much-loved Caviar-themed cat bowl and has also recently collaborated with ceramicist and artist Kate Welton for a three-piece collection of a koi carp water bowl and hand-painted food dishes — bringing serious creativity to cat crockery.  Continuing the arts and crafts theme, Cheshire & Wain have also brought joy to cat lovers by partnering with artist Annabel Pearl for a series of cat breed prints, original paintings featuring cats languishing on iconic chairs as well as a bespoke cat portrait service where to immortalise a feline into an original artwork.

The busy year of 2021 also saw Cheshire & Wain elevate catnaps with their sumptuously soft faux-fur Cat Cloud® Beds (with thermal technology) to provide dreamy, cosy slumbers for kitties (while protecting furniture from any wayward claws). In the same year, the brand also introduced the first design of their eco-led durable teaser toys produced from leather collar offcuts to help reduce waste from the Cheshire & Wain studio. 

Cheshire & Wain’s feline wares have also caught the eye of other luxury retailers, and the brand is proud to be stocked with the likes of Fortnum & Masons and Harrods in both their physical and online stores. 

Commenting on their tenth anniversary, Cheshire & Wain Founder Sonja Farrell says: “Cheshire & Wain was a big idea inspired by one tiny kitten, my beloved Mr Percy Peter Wells. In November 2013, I sold our very first collar. Fast forward to the present day, and this little cat has inspired more than 10 collar collections along with a wide product line to bring a Cheshire & Wain luxury to cats across the globe. We can’t wait to bring even more of the finer things in life to cats in our next decade.” 

Cheshire & Wain is based at a studio in Bridport on the scenic south coast of England, after relocating from East London earlier this year. Sonja now also lives with Bridport with her partner Jack and the cats Percy and Penelope, who are adapting well to their slower-paced homelife. For the finest cat collars and cat lifestyle, visit Cheshireandwain.com.