about us
founders jenny (victim) and lynn (aggressor)
Over twenty years ago we met and became best friends while at Stanford University. Our company, The Cat's Pajamas, was founded several years later in 1998. After post-college whistle stops ranging from rock concert promotion to filmstrip quality assurance, we realized that the only way to find a fun and fulfilling work environment would be to make it ourselves. A shared love of comfy pajamas led us to the exciting world of women's sleepwear. We atarted small, with three basic pajama styles and just three different fabric choices. Fifteen years later, our PJ line is available in boutiques across the United States and has grown to included a wide variety of sleepwear styles and dozens of eye-catching prints.
One thing has not changed, however. The Cat's Pajamas continues to sew its 100% cotton and flannel sleepwear entirely in the San Francisco Bay Area. We feel it is very important to support our local community and keep jobs in the U.S. Our line of knit sleepwear is currently made in Peru of fine Peruvian cotton, but we hope to one day bring production of our knit sleepwear here to California.
Domestic production is just one component of our involvement in the local community. Volunteering has always been an important element of The Cat's Pajamas. In recent years, you could say that the company has gone to the dogs. Starting 9 years ago, we began raising puppies to become service dogs for Canine Companions for Independence. Before the dogs head into advanced training, puppy raisers are responsible for teaching their dogs 30 commands as well as socializing them to the world, taking them nearly every place you can think of: schools, banks, stores, ball games, and you guessed it... Pajamaland!
Visit our office on any given day and you won't find a feline in sight. You will, however, be greeted by two exceedingly friendly and enthusiastic dogs. Bronte, the gorgeous lab with the glossy black coat, was our first puppy-in-training. She arrived as an 8-week-old bundle of wiggles in 2003 and spent the next 16 months being raised at The Cat's Pajamas. Bronte came to work every day, learning basic obedience commands and more specialized skills, such as batting her eyes at the UPS drivers to get biscuits. Just as Bronte was ready to graduate as a service dog, she developed some medical issues and unfortunately had to be released from her training. We were delighted to adopt her and now she is the permanent ambassador for The Cat's Pajamas.
Since then, Bronte has been an able role model for two more puppies in training. Mimi, another black lab, came to The Cat's Pajamas in 2005. Sixteen months of training and socialization paid off in 2007, when she graduated as a hearing assistance dog. Our third trainee was Chantal, a playful golden retriever/lab mix. As she grew, it became apparent that unlike most golden retrievers, Chantal was very fearful of children. As a result, she was also released from the service dog program. We happily adopted her and re-named her Figgy. Our UPS driver will attest that you will not find a sweeter, cuddlier pup than this girl.
Now that we have two "forever" dogs here at The Cat's Pajamas, it would be a bit overwhelming to have another set of "trainee" paws around. In order to find a new outlet for our love of animals, we have since poured our energies into walking and caring for the adoptable dogs at Berkeley Animal Care Services, our local municipal animal shelter.
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