Wearables. Blurring the boundaries between pet and owner
How is the evolving relationship between humans and animals changing perceptions and habits in everyday life and, in turn, influencing pet wearables trends?
More than accessories
The relationship between pet and human is in constant evolution. Today they increasingly share living, urban, recreational, and especially social spaces, and this has led to a significant change in the perception of the pet’s accessories, which have become real, trendy articles.
The close connection between human and pet is evident, indeed, even in the small choices of everyday life. For instance, choices that reflect the need to combine the practical needs of puppies with the aesthetic taste of the owners, reveal a willingness to identify the pet as a part of the self.
It plays out in everything from coordinated accessories to stylish garments that can be matched to pet and owner, designed in respect of the animal and its needs.
Coordinated style
As the boundaries between pet and owner become increasingly blurred, the two become blended and enriched in style and creativity. Leads become bracelets or turn into shoulder bags, personalised collars are made in precious materials with jewel inserts. Coordinated identification tags seem to sanction and celebrate a mutual belonging. And bags are no longer the exclusive territory of our personal effects, but ready to welcome everything our pets may need during the hours spent with us outside
the home.
The range available on the market is almost infinite and ready to satisfy every trend: from the metropolitan refined to the sporty chic, from the street wear to the boho.
Aesthetic combines with function
Objects combine a captivating aesthetic with the necessary function. There are water bottles that rival our own coffee thermos, cookies holder accessories that hook to the bag like pendants, and containers for wet wipes that, let’s face it, we wish were for us. Even the necessary to manage the dog’s droppings is the result of a precise choice. All of these are outward indicators of the taste of values and the status of the owner who chooses them.
Wearable wellbeing
Another trend in constant growth sees the concept of wearability closely linked to that of technology. Digital devices that attach to the collar are now being joined by anti-anxiety clothing, designed anatomically to have a calming effect, dressing our puppy with wellbeing.
All these different and complementary aspects combine to make the concept of wearables today, one that translates intrinsic characteristics (values, status, habits, orientations) into a unitary and recognisable lifestyle.