Fashion goes to the dogs

Bruce Castleberry

Issue date: 10/31/07 Section: Life & Style

Media Credit: Melissa Karras

UA sophomore Jessica Smith's puppy, Twilah, models her ladybug Halloween costume.

When Bailey goes out, she saunters down the street in boots, a stylish sweater, jacket or dress. With her big brown eyes and close-cropped hair, she's irresistible to the man in her life, Dustin Barnum of Fayetteville.

Barnum, an operations supervisor at Best Buy, can't help but spoil Bailey.

She is one chic Chihuahua.

One month, Barnum said, he spent so much on her that he almost couldn't pay the rent on his apartment. Bailey could go without, she's even gone out naked, but for the $160 collar around her neck.

But she isn't the only pet in boots. Barnum, like a growing segment of Americans, is one of millions of people fueling a surge in the demand for pet clothing.

In an Aug. 6 Business Week cover story, the magazine cited a Maryland consumer research company, which determined that Americans spend $41 billion a year on their pets more, than the gross domestic product of all but 64 countries in the world. Ten years ago, the number was half that. Pet spending is expected to hit $52 billion in the next two years, with clothing as a major player behind the increase.

Retailers have taken note of the spike in demand for stuff for Spike. Online and storefront businesses are rushing to get a piece of the market that serves the owners of the estimated 75 million dogs. Business Week pointed out that the demographics of pet owners are a major factor in getting the attention of sellers. It found that many modern pet owners possess the two magic words of retail: disposable income.

Grant Carroll wrote in EZine in March 2006 ("Starting a Business in the Dog Clothing Industry: Is Now A Good Time"), "In a matter of just a few years, dog clothing has grown from obscurity into a booming industry. The dog clothes industry is booming, and there's plenty of room for businesses, small and large, to turn a profit." Carroll said pet supplies in the U.S. made about $34 billion in 2005. "That's a big enough pie for everyone to have a slice," he said.

"There's no sign of this popularity fading anytime soon, either. It's hard to flip through TV channels without seeing something about a celebrity buying expensive clothes for their pets. "Thanks to people like Paris Hilton, dog clothes are going to be around for a while," Carroll said.

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