Dog Fashion and Consumerism

Humphrey in his favorite wool coat from the now-defunct Tabi

A strange thing happened over the past decade. Fashion, once exclusively human terrain, has extended to the animal kingdom. Dog fashion has become an entire industry, feeding a culture of consumption. A proliferation of dog “lifestyle” magazines such as The Bark and Modern Dog feature glossy pages and fashion shoots in each issue. Whereas pet stores used to be utilitarian in nature, selling kibble, bones and toys, now entire shops devoted to “wants” (not needs) exist. Los Angeles-based Fifi and Romeo is one of the more impressive retailers, having branched out internationally. Fashion designers and labels ranging from Vivienne Westwood, to Coach, to Burberry, to Isaac Mizrahi design for dogs, costing hundreds and even thousands of dollars per item. Not one to miss out on a viable trend, Martha Stewart partnered with PetSmart to create a line of decidedly down-market dog products (including clothing), and Isaac Mizrahi did the same for Target.

Humphrey is simultaneously fascinated and repulsed by dog fashion. Back in the day, long before Humphrey was born, mass market retailers only carried simple leather and monochromatic nylon collars and leads. But today, the choices are seemingly limitless!

The proliferation of dog fashion begs an important question: why would anybody care what their dog wears? How is it possible for an entire industry of luxury pet clothing to exist? This all has to do with how people’s relationships to and with dogs have changed. Pets, Dr. Heidi Nast of DePaul University explains, invoke a new kind of “love” in society – one that is narcissistic and feeds into consumerism. The relationship is in part ownership and commodity. Nast describes this as nested levels of fetishism – people buy a dog, then buy lots and lots of accoutrements they believe best serve that dog in their own image while continuing a perverse entanglement in consumer culture.

All that consumption adds up. The American Pet Products Manufacturers Association (APPMA) proudly boasts that in 2007, American pet owners spent $ 41.2 billion on their animals, up 7% from the previous year. Quite astoundingly, during the 2008 financial meltdown, food and pet supplies were the only two categories out of 17 that showed significant spending increases (WSL Strategic Research Survey). Perhaps it comes as no surprise that 52% of pet owners in the APPMA survey said they would reduce spending on themselves to maintain spending on their pets.

This sweater keeps Humphrey warm and dry on a day like today.

Of course, pets have always required some accessories. Few would challenge the a city dog’s need of a collar and lead, and maybe even some protective winter clothing for harsh Canadian winters, depending on the breed. These are utilitarian items. But the options are no longer strictly utilitarian. A $78 Coach collar. A $40 Ralph Lauren Polo. Or even a wide assortment of dresses (yes, dresses) with no purpose other than promoting dogs’ gendered appearance. That’s the thing: increasingly people dress their dogs purely for fashion, and less for function.

From a human standpoint, Humphrey has observed time and time again, clothing is a not only a way for individuals to express who they are but also a means for others to formulate an opinion about wearers. People choose their clothing and fashion choices using all sorts of criteria – aesthetically pleasing, flattering, fashionable, and sometimes for status, and sometimes to signify things like things gendered selves. Dogs, however, simply don’t care much about clothing, nor do they make connections between things like style, colour and gender. And yet people persist in dressing them up in ways that signify human things – not only in unnecessary items, but in unnecessarily decadent and expensive ones. 

Humphrey watches in horror as his guardian falls prey to this sort of fetishistic consumerism. She rationalizes: if Humphrey dog must wear a collar, why not make it a nice collar? Or coat. Or boots. How cute is a carrier in the iconic Coach op-art pattern? And it happens to match her own rain boots. And it’s even on sale! True rationality, in Humphrey’s view rarely prevails. Why won’t she take that money, and buy some nice jumbo lobster tails? Now that would be money well-spent. Lobster tails have much more use-value in the dog world than some cable-knit sweater.

Even the music industry is into licensing dog clothing. Humphrey prefers classics like The Who or Jimi Hendrix.

But consumer culture, pervasive in his life, is how Humphrey has found himself with an impressive (but largely useless) wardrobe. Nonetheless, he is happy to stay dry and warm on a day like today swathed in some great fashion.