With a Belgravia address (although it’s along the same road as Victoria coach station) you would expect this to be a bit of an up market affair. And my goodness it is - elegant, calm, understated and ever so stylish. This is the shop for those who have extremely pampered pets padding around peacefully in their designer homes.
I’d seen their tasteful dog beds in the Harrods concession and I had heard that a new and slightly bigger store had just opened in Notting Hill (Ledbury Road) but I wanted to take a peek at the original store. I was glad that Alfie was left at home on this occasion as I’m sure he would have made the place look a bit – well – untidy.
The shelves were neatly stocked with organic granola dog treats and dog bowls with delicate and subtle canine designs. A tiny dog collar in the softest leather was priced at £50 – not as expensive as I had expected. There was a super-soft modular merino pullover at £79 and a cable cashmere pullover in this season’s forest green at £129. Exquisite dog couture but not for when you are splashing around in puddles in the park.
There were some nice books in there too “Lump – the dog who ate a Picasso” by David Douglas Duncan and “Is your dog gay?” caught my eye. The shiny black beetle dog coat – a perfect puffer – was £120 and this was next to a range of dog toiletries that wouldn’t look out of place for humans in a five star hotel. Tucked away on the floor were baskets containing the sort of dog toys that are likely to become family heirlooms – Pull my leg monkey, bones, lions, mooses and even a squeaky artichoke £17 (that’ll be for the vegetarian dogs then).
The brown and grey marl Vermont merino pullovers at £69 are best sellers for the American market and did well at a recent pop-up shop in France. And the rope collars and leads are very popular in the UK. The dinky little knitted dog tags in a basket at the desk would grace any home and delight any child.
As I wandered back – passing the fabulously pink Peggy Porschen cake shop and the Philip Treacy hat shop – I couldn’t help but wish that I could indulge Alfie with some of the stunning items in muted, natural colours and fibres. But I fear that he might chew them – and then I would be heartbroken, although I could then write a book called “Alfie – the dog who ate Mungo and Maud designer outfits”.
http://www.mungoandmaud.com/
