Oksana Stakhovych Launches Mia Coosh in Australia’s $22 Billion Pet Market
In this article (4)
Melbourne founder Oksana Stakhovych launched Mia Coosh in October 2025, targeting Australia’s $22 billion pet industry with vegan microfibre leather accessories.
Stakhovych created the brand to challenge mass-market pet accessories that typically rely on standard nylon webbing, plastic buckles, and bovine leather.
Designing for Premium Pet Owners
Stakhovych spent more than a year prototyping the range before going live, testing hardware weight, strap placement, and fit on small and medium dog breeds across parks, beaches, and varied weather conditions.
Her background spans e-commerce, online retail operations, and business administration. That operational experience shaped the fulfilment setup, customer service protocols, and digital storefront ahead of launch.
Animals should not wear animals. At the same time, I did not want to compromise on quality.
Microfibre leather replaced animal hides to keep the gear lightweight, water-resistant, and durable for everyday urban use.
The Direct-to-Consumer Model in Australia
Australia ranks among the highest pet-ownership markets in the Asia-Pacific region. High ownership rates drive premium spending across food, healthcare, and lifestyle accessories. Specialty pet chains and supermarkets dominate staple goods, but higher-margin accessories increasingly sell through independent digital channels.
Mia Coosh bypasses wholesale middlemen to capture full retail margins on its smaller initial production runs. Competing against established global pet lifestyle brands requires tight control over unit economics and paid customer acquisition costs.
Embedded Charity Allocations
A permanent revenue share is built directly into transaction processing. A fixed portion of every customer purchase goes to registered Australian animal rescue organisations to fund rehabilitation and rehoming work.
Setting up the donation mechanism at checkout replaces periodic promotional campaigns. The structure integrates charitable allocations into baseline cost of goods sold from the initial operating date.
Expanding the Sizing Line
The venture originated in October 2025 after trials on Stakhovych’s toy poodle revealed a lack of ergonomic, lightweight harnesses for smaller dogs. Development work throughout 2024 centered on refining buckle hardware and strap proportions before committing to manufacturing runs.
Mia Coosh is monitoring order volume across Australian capital cities while evaluating broader accessory lines and additional dog sizing tiers for subsequent inventory cycles.