It’s a dog’s life during hard economic times. But Chihuahuas in a tutu? Pugs in designer tank-tops? Dachshunds draped in Swarovski bling?
That was the scene at the third annual Pet Fashion Week in Manhattan this past weekend, where despite a looming US recession, the world’s dog-loving fashionistas gathered to share ideas, market their products, strut a canine catwalk and raise money for charity.
At a time when department stores are suffering from shrinking sales of clothing, shoes and accessories such as handbags, those in the pet fashion industry are thriving, thanks to dog-loving elites and the buying impulses of millions of other pet owners.
“I’ve always loved dressing up dolls and Barbies, and I wanted to take it into something else that I loved, and I love pets,” pet-fashion designer Kameron Westcott from Dallas, Texas said as her five-year-old Yorkshire terrier, Louis, peeked out of a canine carry bag designed by luxury fashion giant Louis Vuitton.
“Dogs need to be cute when they go to parties as well,” quipped Westcott, who runs an Internet web site hawking a range of Brazilian-made clothes and accessories for dogs.
“They want to feel elite and posh, just like we are.”
These dogs are having their day. All five floors of an exhibition center in southern Manhattan were crammed with dozens of stands marketing a range of pet beauty products and clothes.
Palacial doghouses on offer stood covered in lush drapes and filled with cushions bearing Swarovski jewels (price: US$9,000 to US$15,000) and other jewelry, while other vendors were peddling the “must-haves” of the moment: all things environmentally friendly and recyclable.
Such green items ranged from cardigans knitted out of Andean alpaca wool to a line of bamboo-only products by “Pet Duti,” a brand which offers items aimed at easing the unfashionable modern-day necessity of cleaning up after one’s dog outside.
Pet Fashion Week proved to be a runaway success, although one woman was disappointed. “You can’t stop me, I want my money back,” shrieked a lady on the verge of a meltdown after having been barred from one of the events Saturday morning for having the wrong ticket.
“No, you paid for the evening charity show. This one is for buyers, designers and the media,” a hostess responded, unruffled.
The show’s stars came out amid an elaborate and ominous backdrop of oil drums and abandoned jerricans meant to evoke the “scary situation” reflected by today’s energy crisis, according to organizers.
Bulldogs paraded out wearing tight wool knits, and elegant Afghans sauntered by clad in Hermes, all led by human fashion models as sumptuously outfitted as their four-legged friends.
Chihuahuas skittered about in tutus, and a trio of tank-top-wearing pugs were pushed down the makeshift catwalk in a shopping cart.
Swedish designer Tania Fylking, seeking a new outlet for her flair for fashion, made the trip to New York at the suggestion of a friend.
“I flew from Stockholm and I do not regret, I hope to find an agent for my brand,” said Fylking, who specializes in producing exotic leather goods favored by several Hollywood celebrities for their pets.
According to the American Pet Products Manufacturers Association, 63 percent of US homes — some 71 million households — have pets. They include 88 million cats, 75 million dogs, 142 million goldfish and 13 million reptiles.
Spending on pets rose in 2007 to US$40 billion, compared with US$28.5 billion in 2001, including US$17 billion spent on food, US$11 billion on veterinary care, US$10 billion dollars on medicines and US$3.9 billion on pet toys, clothing and “dog-sitters.”
On its Web site, the association says doctors claim that “pets help to lower blood pressure, to reduce stress, to prevent heart disease, to lower healthcare costs, to fight depression and loneliness.”
President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday delivered an address marking the first anniversary of his presidency. In the speech, Lai affirmed Taiwan’s global role in technology, trade and security. He announced economic and national security initiatives, and emphasized democratic values and cross-party cooperation. The following is the full text of his speech: Yesterday, outside of Beida Elementary School in New Taipei City’s Sanxia District (三峽), there was a major traffic accident that, sadly, claimed several lives and resulted in multiple injuries. The Executive Yuan immediately formed a task force, and last night I personally visited the victims in hospital. Central government agencies and the
May 26 to June 1 When the Qing Dynasty first took control over many parts of Taiwan in 1684, it roughly continued the Kingdom of Tungning’s administrative borders (see below), setting up one prefecture and three counties. The actual area of control covered today’s Chiayi, Tainan and Kaohsiung. The administrative center was in Taiwan Prefecture, in today’s Tainan. But as Han settlement expanded and due to rebellions and other international incidents, the administrative units became more complex. By the time Taiwan became a province of the Qing in 1887, there were three prefectures, eleven counties, three subprefectures and one directly-administered prefecture, with
Among Thailand’s Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) villages, a certain rivalry exists between Arunothai, the largest of these villages, and Mae Salong, which is currently the most prosperous. Historically, the rivalry stems from a split in KMT military factions in the early 1960s, which divided command and opium territories after Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石) cut off open support in 1961 due to international pressure (see part two, “The KMT opium lords of the Golden Triangle,” on May 20). But today this rivalry manifests as a different kind of split, with Arunothai leading a pro-China faction and Mae Salong staunchly aligned to Taiwan.
As with most of northern Thailand’s Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) settlements, the village of Arunothai was only given a Thai name once the Thai government began in the 1970s to assert control over the border region and initiate a decades-long process of political integration. The village’s original name, bestowed by its Yunnanese founders when they first settled the valley in the late 1960s, was a Chinese name, Dagudi (大谷地), which literally translates as “a place for threshing rice.” At that time, these village founders did not know how permanent their settlement would be. Most of Arunothai’s first generation were soldiers
RSS