Strutting the runway at Pet Fashion Week 2007

One of the canine models during the Creative Styling Showcase portion at Pet Fashion Week. (photo by Yuan-Kwan Chan / Meniscus Magazine)

Pet Fashion Week should perhaps be more appropriately called “Dog” Fashion Week with most of the trade show retailers featuring goods and services for dogs; the mere sight of a little girl carrying a cat down the catwalk (irony, no?) actually startled some attendees. Still, with 13 designers showcasing their varied haute canine couture creations, it’s clear that dogs alone command a lot of business in the lucrative pet industry.

Highlights included the label Hip Doggie, helmed by California-based designer Suyun Kim, which featured miniature versions of wardrobe straight off the pages of Teen Vogue or Seventeen Magazines redesigned and re-cut for canine figures. The edgy Sweet Pea, Biscuit and Jam out of New Jersey included innovative vetements resembling luxurious 21st-century armor more suitable for museum display than battle.

The eyebrow-raising portion of the show was the stunning Creative Styling Showcase, during which models regally carried five dogs decked out in matching extravagant costumes down the runway. Poodle breeder and pet stylist Sathit Suratphiphit loaned his creative talents to the show. Starting out as a human hairstylist (a distinction does have to made here, after all!), Suratphiphit makes a career out of turning dogs into works of art, and even owns a dog grooming school in Thailand that teaches this particular craft.

Photo Gallery
all photos by Yuan-Kwan Chan / Meniscus Magazine