• Doggles
• Dog brownies
• Burberry
• Parisian party dresses
• Bark Jacobs
• Muttropolis
• Doggie Bikinis

Haute Dogs

The Chihuahua in the "I'm a Tough Guy" T-shirt, the bulldog in a sequined jacket, the Yorkie in sunglasses . . . you've seen them on the street, and you've rolled your eyes at the doting owner. You've snickered. You've guffawed. But somewhere in all of that you've probably also thought to yourself: "That dog is dressed better than I am."

Why do dog owners do it? Is it because the clothes are cute? Funny? Stylish? It's all of the above - plus the fact that you can shop for these items without ever once confronting your waistline or an unflatteringly lit dressing room.

Never before has so much attention been paid to clothes and accessories for pets. Over the past few years, the pet supply industry, according to some market research, has outgrown the baby-care industry by more than 25 percent, and that's not even including the profits turned by pet food - an industry that now includes everything from dog brownies to dog biscotti to "Cab-Bone-Net" biscuits made with wine.

Almost anything you see in lifestyle and fashion magazines for people has also been created for dogs . . . there are raincoats made by Burberry, Parisian party dresses, rhinestone-encrusted collars designed by Isaac Mizrahi, and sweaters made under Marc Jacobs's new line, Bark Jacobs.

"People want their pets to be an extension of their own style," says Janet McCulley, the cofounder of Muttropolis, a pet boutique with four locations around the country. "You want your pet to be as trendy as you are."

In 2002, McCulley and three other proud pet parents opened the first Muttropolis in San Diego, based on the idea that pets are partners that complete our lives. In her stores, she sees teenagers dress up their pups just like the dogs of their celebrity idols. She sees that as people have kids later and later in life, they opt to dress up their dogs instead of babies. And she especially sees empty-nesters, or those who are newly single, find unconditional love from their pets.

So why not return that unconditional love by gifting a miniature two-piece bathing suit to your Chihuahua?

"Pets are considered bona fide members of our families," says McCulley. "It just makes sense we would want to treat them like it."

 

Posted on June 12, 2006