Velvet Hippo (noun): An endearing term that refers to a Pit Bull-type breed of dog. Just adopted a velvet hippo from the shelter today!
Spend a weekend with a Pit Bull and the term practically writes itself. They are short-haired, barrel-chested, enthusiastically affectionate, and built like something that belongs in a wildlife documentary. The nickname carries a note of warmth, and more than a little advocacy: these are dogs that have been badly misrepresented for a long time, and a lot of them are sitting in shelters right now waiting for someone to look past the stigma. Hippos, for their part, are objectively terrifying, but that’s a separate conversation.
What Pit Bulls actually want, beneath the bravado, is simple: to be loved, and to sleep. That second desire is basically the founding insight behind Velvet Hippo, a pet accessories brand with a clear mission. The brand was founded by product designer Shalina Chen and her partner Jason Horvath, an award-winning furniture designer whose work has been recognized by the Smithsonian Museum. A few years ago, as the two were furnishing their Brooklyn apartment, they kept running into a dead end: no dog bed on the market looked like something they actually wanted in their home. With two Pittie rescues, Lola and Rasta, needing a proper place to stretch out, they took matters into their own hands. The result was Velvet Hippo, a streamlined line of hexagonal-shaped, stone-washed canvas beds stuffed with recycled poly-fill. We talked with Chen about where the brand came from, what went into designing the beds, and the two dogs at the center of it all.
What was the inspiration behind Velvet Hippo?
It really started naturally. I have two rescue Pit Bull mixes and at the time we were living in Brooklyn — now I’m in Park City. We were decorating our home and couch shopping but the one thing we couldn’t find for our pets was a dog bed. Everything I was looking at just didn’t fit in the home. From there, I started making my own beds. I have a fashion and design background so I was sewing a couple beds myself and then it grew pretty organically.
How did your background as a graphic and product designer influence Velvet Hippo’s aesthetic?
I went to school for fashion and was working at Madewell when we started Velvet Hippo. When it comes to decorating your home, I think we just want something really organic, but still very thoughtful. Something that you really wanted to put in your home that reflects your sense of style. So that’s where the design comes in. We wanted a donut-shaped bed, but not literally donut-shaped bed, more of a rounded shape — something that didn’t really exist out there at the time. But we also wanted it to be functional. So the design was a mixture of that.
You mentioned your two rescue Pities, Rasta and Lola; I’m assuming the name Velvet Hippo was in reference to them?
Yeah, if you have a Pit Bull then you know what a velvet hippo is. It’s kind of like a pet name for Pitties with short hair that kind of resembles a hippo. It was a cute name that always stuck with us. I’m also just a big believer in adoption and try to encourage people to do that if they can.
What are Rasta and Lola like?
Oh man, they have such personalities. Being Pit Bulls, sometimes they get a bad rap. There’s a certain stigma with the breed and there are a lot of them in shelters so I have a soft spot for them. But Rasta is the most loveable dog; he’s like a teddy bear. He’s just the sweetest and such an indoor dog. Lola is quite the opposite. She’s the queen of the house, definitely the head of the household. I think she’s got a little herding dog in her so she’s very persnickety — super loving but has a lot of attitude. It’s fun to see that juxtaposition in our family of dogs.
Did you always want Pit Bulls?
My husband adopted them first and then I met him; that’s how they came into my life. I didn’t grow up with Pitties or anything like that, but it’s definitely something I’ve grown to love. A lot of the issues surrounding the breed and the negative attention they often receive was something I became more educated about after having them in my life. But adoption was always important to me.
You mentioned your partner, Jason; what is it like working so closely with your significant other?
For us, it’s really helpful. If you look at it like a Venn diagram, we definitely overlap but we each also have our own strengths. We’re on the same team so it’s easy to help each other out. Jason’s less hands-on in terms of day-to-day stuff, but he’s really great at strategy and seeing the big picture to help with the direction of initiatives. And I’m more the one to sit in front of a spreadsheet and do the day-to-day things. So it’s a good blend. We’re also both design backgrounds — he’s from furniture and I’m from fashion — so in that way, it’s kind of different. We bring different things to the table but we work really well together. So I’m lucky.
The design of your products, specifically the beds, is very minimalistic. Why was this a style you gravitated toward?
We’re both very minimal in our aesthetic and I think that’s what a lot of people look for in not only their homes but their pet products. I think a lot of traditional pet products you’d get at a major store, you wouldn’t really want in your house. It can be too frou frou. So we wanted it to be minimal but also functional. Like, it’s important that it fits in our home, but it also needs to work for the dog. That’s why washability was a big aspect that we were designing into. We wanted it to be reusable and not something you’d have to rebuy every six months.
How crucial was the bed’s durability in its design process?
I have two dogs who chew up a lot of stuff, so I know what it’s like to quickly go through things. And sometimes you can’t help it, but we wanted to make something that was intentionally durable and that would last.
What’s next for Velvet Hippo? Where would you like to see the brand go?
We’re looking at the intersection of home accessories and pet accessories — not just toys or food. We want to continue to blend our and our pets’ lifestyles together. Because they are a part of our lives. We want to do more accessories and more dog beds, not just our hero product. We’re really thinking about the home as a whole.
