South-side neighbors deliver canine couture

Bailey is a 5-year-old mini Goldendoodle.

Her backyard neighbor, Maizy, is a nearly 2-year-old Aussiedooodle.

Their human moms have been known to spoil them a bit.

But it’s understandable. These are moms of boys who finally have dog “daughters” to dress up.

“They’re girls. They don’t talk back. They let us style them however we want,” explained Marcia Schmitz, Bailey’s mom.

“I would say Bailey is a bit of a princess.”

Maizy’s herding nature makes her a playful companion – until Bailey lets her know she’s had enough.

“But they’re good friends,” Schmitz continued. “We take them to the lake together, and they spend time together just like we do.”

The moms — Schmitz and Amber Chambers — are good friends too.

And maybe it was having a little too much time on their hands during the pandemic, but between backyards in the Heather Ridge neighborhood, a business grew.

“Neither one of us sit still very well, and she made a few bandanas for our girl puppies, and the creative juices started flowing,” Schmitz said. “We’ve really had fun putting fabrics together and building collections.”

The girls now are the inspiration behind their moms’ new business. Schmitz and Chambers are the owners of COCO+Champ, which sells fashionable dog bandanas that even namesake style icon Coco Chanel could approve.

“Our style is … what we would want to put on our dogs,” Schmitz said

Schmitz is a training and talent development director who also co-owns a leadership consulting business. Chambers is a physician’s assistant whose “surgical skills help out a lot with the sewing,” Schmitz said. “The quality is very, very high because of her.”

COCO+Champ is sold online but working to get into retail stores and considering additional product lines.

As soon as business allows, one of the first purchases will be a new sewing machine. Chambers currently is working off one they think cost $89.

“We’ve had quite a few go out,” Schmitz said.

“Social media is where we’ve started to build the brand, and it’s just been fun.”