New York’s Pet Fashion Week is a Go!

by Mary Haight on July 21, 2009

: Image by Getty Images via Daylife

While Anna Wintour will not attend, rumors of Pet Fashion Week’s demise have been greatly exaggerated. The posh annual trade show, running from August 22 to 23 at the Metropolitan Pavilion in Chelsea, is a branding opportunity for vendors, attracting the most sophisticated national and international buyers.

As the industry’s most widely covered event, Pet Fashion Week NY attracts international media. Exhibitors have many occasions for brand exposure. That means we get to see new items in the news before they hit the stores. Just because money is tight, doesn’t mean Gigi can’t shop eyes only!

True to the strength of this seemingly recession-proof market niche, Derek DiFante, organizer, said “buyer registration has been tremendous; over 300 new buyers have registered to attend the show this year.” Oscar Newman, Ruff ruff Couture, the Pet Elite and the organic Simply Fido are just a few of the exhibitors on hand.

An interesting dimension added this year will be a products exhibit by students from New York’s Fashion Institute of Technology.

In 2008 Pet Fashion Week NY was visited by approximately 1800 buyers and nearly 200 media outlets and number of exhibitors reached an all-time high of 158. Let’s take a look at the aftermath and see if designers stepped up in spite of possible consumer pull back. So often there is little innovation in bad economies, leaving us all cold and chasing our tails. Who wants to buy yesterday’s remake at a premium price?

I’m wondering–maybe the Fashion Institute tech students will knock our socks off. Stay tuned! For more, read on…