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Jade Lee-Duffy

Hong Kong is a city where looking good counts and people come to see and be seen. So many stylish dog owners want their pooch to be just as posh.
 Fashion houses such as Gucci, Louis Vuitton and Hermes cater for the designer brand-loving canine crowd, offering designer leather collars and leads that will be the envy of any fashionable Fido. Juicy Couture has also designed a leather collar for the urban-cool canine, accented with cut-out leather flowers and brass detailing.
Japan took the lead in dog clothing over a decade ago with Hong Kong following suit in the past five years, according to Howard Cheung Sin-ho,  owner of Dog One Life in Causeway Bay  and Kowloon Bay.  
'Pet fashions were already a very sophisticated trend in Japan in the late 1990s,' he says. 'It's a major mission for us to bring dog fashions to Hong Kong.'
According to Mr Cheung, one of the biggest challenges in selling dog clothes is the number of sizes a retailer needs to stock.
 'For one style alone we have 16 sizes. Even for a Dachshund we have small, medium and large sizes.'
Mr Cheung says some owners prefer to dress up their dog in animal costumes, while others opt for human-inspired styles, from sporty and trendy to formal and girly.
 On the racks, owners can find camouflage army prints, hooded velour tops, T-shirt-type outfits with the words 'top dog' and a number of frilly pink dresses. 
Dog clothing is starting to follow human fashion trends even more closely, according to Mr Cheung, as denim has become more popular, along with Japan's current trend of skull prints. 
Clement Lo,  president of Three Dog Bakery,  believes Hong Kong has a market for upscale boutique dog shops. 'People like to dress up their dog. They treat them like children and it's a fashion [statement] to dress them up,' says Mr Lo, who works at the Happy Valley branch.
For the summer heat, Mr Lo carries a vest from Ruff Wear that prevents dogs from getting heatstroke. Owners need to wet the vest with water before going out in the heat, so the dog stays cool.
For owners with a penchant for shoes, Mr Lo says dog footwear isn't only for looks. 'In the summer, the concrete pavement becomes too hot and hard for a dog's paws, which can become dry and cracked.' 
The Fire Services Department and the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department have bought dog shoes for their canine team, according to Mr Lo. 



Trendy dog owners want their pooches to be just as posh as them