Pet Apparel: Sustainable Fashion’s New Focus?

Sustainable Irish designer Aoife Rooney is one such example. Searching for an innovative way to use the offcuts from her latest collection and make sure no fabric is wasted, she created a petwear accessory line. Worked in the same tweeds as the full-size pieces, the collection taps into the burgeoning trend for four-legged mini-me dressing, popular among modern luxury consumers, while also providing a sustainable yet wholly creative outlet for the brand.

Elsewhere, Florida-based Tailor Sallee has taken a similar approach. The brand focuses on upcycling second-hand and vintage pieces and has since expanded this process into petwear, by using offcuts and excess material from its garment reworkings. Sallee’s latest project? Upcycled dog bikinis and shorts, just in time for summer.

While upcycling has already infiltrated the fashion mainstream, the rising demand for pet fashion may see it surpass its novelty status in the near future. Celebrities from Dolly Parton to Snoop Dogg have launched canine apparel lines (Doggy Parton and Snoop Doggie Dogs, respectively), luxury leaders and high-street giants alike have introduced collections aimed at pet parents, and fur-focused fashion weeks have popped up everywhere from Los Angeles to Florence’s Pitti Immagine Uomo.

Combining these playful ideals with a crafty sustainable hook is a smart move, especially as more and more fashion brands are branching out and expanding their lifestyle offerings: pet apparel is a seemingly niche but surprisingly lucrative place to start.