In Thailand, the latest trend is designer clothing and accessories for pets. The United States saw a huge boost in this when Paris Hilton began collecting and dressing small dogs. Suddenly, everyone wanted a tiny dog and clothing for it to wear. Designer brands like Louis Vuitton, Juicy Couture, and Christian Audigier jumped on the dog accessory bandwagon.
Christian Audigier, known for his edgy, tattoo-like designs for people, expanded his repertoire to include a line for dogs. His designer dog t-shirts can cost more than $100 and a dog carrier can cost close to $400. Louis Vuitton came out with an exclusive line for pets as well, including a dog carrier—meant only for small dogs—for $1,500.
But Thai jewelry designer Riwin Jirapolsek has done them all one better. Over two months, he designed a $4.2 million tiara for his 15 year-old male Maltese. The piece, created with titanium and encrusted with 250 carats worth of diamonds and emeralds, was featured at a dog-clothing runway show in Bangkok. While he says he has no plans to sell the tiara, he is planning on designing more jewelry for the dog. He told Reuters, “I will make a hair clip next time because my dog has to wear clips every day. Otherwise, his fur will block his view.”
Despite the global economic crisis, this dog show drew a large crowd and featured many dog lovers dressing up their pets in designer clothing and costumes. One of the attendees said that dog accessories are a big trend right now, from collars to tiaras to clothing, and people buy them because they are so cute.
Although Jirapolsek has no current plans to sell his designs, the attention that his custom-made tiara drew at the dog show might change his mind.
