The World Needs More Dogs in Tiny Cardigans

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When I decided to name my pug Björk after the pagan pop poet, I knew it would come with certain responsibilities. My dog had a reputation to live up to. Acquiring a fantastic wardrobe for her felt like a must.

But three months after I got Björk, the pandemic started. Suddenly I had nothing to do but panic about the state of the world and stare into the eyes of this funny little five-pound creature who thought I was hers. Pretty quickly, the soundtrack to my life became the clicking hospital machine sounds in the background of my mother’s phone calls, from the Manhattan Covid unit where she worked as a nurse.

One night, after weeks of manufactured cheerfulness, my mom admitted she was scared. To cope, I turned to my worst habit, impulsive shopping, and bought matching Ashley Williams cardigans on Ssense for me and Björk. Then—because what else was I supposed to do?—I staged a photo shoot.

I was my mom’s first daughter. Growing up, she’d show me photos of the two of us in matching outfits, insisting I would do the same someday with my children. I’m not quite sure if she imagined my first daughter would be a pug, but what is life if not one big surprise? When I showed her the photos of Björk and me in those sweaters back in May of 2020, I heard her laugh through the phone for the first time in weeks.

So naturally, when I heard downtown designer Sandy Liang announced that she would be making four dog pieces based off her most recent runway in collaboration with the dogwear brand Little Beast, I shrieked. I wasn’t the only one. On Liang's Instagram, commenters deemed the clothes a fashion dog mom's dream come true. There was a tiny red fleece with fluffy white flowers on the sleeves, two itty-bitty cropped cardigans with oversized collars, and a little red puffer coat adorned in bow detailing. The collection launched last Friday; most pieces sold out almost instantly.

There is a level of serotonin that I think can only be unlocked when you dress your dog in a silly little fit. And I am no mathematician, but I think that joy goes up exponentially when the clothing looks like something you might wear, too. As the years go on, there seem to be fewer and fewer things the entire world is able to agree on, but a dog in a great look still has mass appeal. If anything, it might be one of the last unifiers humanity has left.

And while dog sweaters have always been a thing, we seem to be living in an age of particularly stylish dog clothing. Miu Miu now sells a pink matelasse coat for dogs that looks like something Lotta Volokova would wear. Prada recently introduced a $1,020 dog harness that doubles as a small backpack (for on-the-go treats?). And back in 2022, Gucci’s dog campaign went viral for moody pet portraits that featured a chihuahua in a striped strawberry onesie and a matching strawberry balaklava.

But it's the smaller designers with enthusiastic cult followings who are ushering in a new era. It’s not just Sandy Liang. As of three years ago, Ssense started launching exclusive pet collabs with cool girl brands like Ashley Williams and Collina Strada. Recently, the retailer added Gauntlett Cheng to the list, and honestly, if I saw a dog on the street wearing its stretch nylon jersey with leg warmers, I wouldn’t be at all surprised if it help up an iPhone with its paw and uploaded a #fitcheck to TikTok.

For Bazaar’s fashion commerce editor and my fellow dog mom Halie LeSavage, the phenomena felt destined to happen. “When you’re able to bring a designer whose visual language speaks to you into your wardrobe and onto your pet at the same time, it instantly telegraphs a little more about your style and outlook. So I think I'd find extra joy in some more matchy-matchy moments,” she tells me over Slack, a messaging platform meant for work-related discussions that we may or may not mostly use to send each other photos of our dogs doing things.

She went on to say she unintentionally matches with her dog all the time. “I didn’t pick out my dog, Dolly, because her black and tan Bernedoodle coat coordinates with all of my favorite clothes. But it must have spoken to the same subconscious voice guiding my personal style; black and tan are overrepresented in my closet. Every time I wear a camel coat, I look like I’m trying to match her. I like that, in fashion speak, it’s a color story.”

Sometimes, I too, unintentionally match with Björk. One time, I even put her in a chunky purple argyle sweater, only to realize I had bought my boyfriend a very similar knit. When I put photos of them together on my Instagram story, I had multiple people tell me it was the best thing they saw all week. It reminded me of the response I received after posting those photos with Björk in our matching Ashley Williams three years ago.

Sandy Liang's Little Beast collaboration seems to have struck a similar chord; no fewer than ten of my friends send me a link suggesting I needed to buy it immediately. One of my friends added a philosophical question: “This makes SO MUCH SENSE! WHY?”

For one, there’s the social media of it all. If there’s anything people love more than OOTDs, it’s pets—in hats! In shoes! In clothing! There’s also the fact that millennials and zoomers aren’t having as many kids as their predecessors, so they’re left with nothing but whiskered offspring to dress up. Things are also just dark and scary, and a dog who has no idea why it's wearing a cropped cardigan is a happy, ridiculous distraction. Buying a matching cardi for yourself won’t solve anything, except, speaking from personal experience, maybe depression. And I think that's worth it!

I also think, despite all the talk of qu**t lux*ry, what young people want from their clothing right now is to get a little weird. It’s why Miu Miu, with its bedazzled panties and mini-skirts the size of a belt, and Loewe, with its impossibly high trousers and pumps with makeup brushes for heels, are the most popular brands of the moment. The fashion girls of today are more eager than ever to say, “I bought a Sandy Liang cardigan from her FW23 collection to match with my dog” with their full chests.

And you know what, why shouldn't they? Maybe the world would be a better place if instead of looking to "elevated basics" brands for outfit inspo, we were all looking to dogs in tiny coats and cardigans wearing our favorite runway looks. They're not worrying about whether they're trying too hard. They have no understanding of the never-ending trend cycle. They just are. And honestly, that's how I aspire to be.

Lil Rivetto Collar

Lil Mulled Cardigan in Carnation

Lil Mulled Cardigan in Hojicha

Lil Grass Fleece

Lil Bommy Puffer

Jiji Tote Bag

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