Cats and Their Designers

Mies, a Devon Rex cat. Gary Venter, New Zealand

Three days before I was born, my grandfather’s business partner passed away, and I was named for him. Had he survived, I would have been named Rebecca. But instead, I was named for Jack — Jewish tradition allowing for the first initial to honor the name of the deceased loved one.

Jack’s last name was Katz and I’ve always wondered: what if Jewish tradition bowed to the last instead of the first name? Would I have been Katherine, Karen, Kimberly? Or might things have taken an even odder turn, like that which befell the immigrant haberdasher, Horatio Katz, back in 1849 when his name was mis-translated as “feline” which was subsequently misinterpreted as Filene?

No such problem for our true feline companions, who dwell in and around the studios of so many designers, a sampling of whom are shown here. Not one of them is named Jessica, by the way. (Nor, for that matter, Jack or Horatio.) But we’ve got an Adolf and a Fyodor, a Mies and a Monotone, even a Fred and a Lucy. (No Ethel or Ricky, however.)

Behold: our collection of feline wonders, and the designers who named them.

PLAY SLIDESHOW

[Canine lovers can find solace in our original post, Dogs and Their Designers.]