Copyright © HT Digital Streams Limited All rights reserved. The rise of custom pet fashion: From logo T-shirts to designer outfits Pooja Singh 5 min read 01 Nov 2025, 11:30 IST A ‘kurta’ by Supertails Summary From custom ‘sherwanis’ to hand-embroidered leashes, pet fashion is almost as indulgent as human fashion. Trends inform her outfit of the day, but her mood determines the final look. Whenever she goes to a cafe in Gurugram, meets a friend or attends an event, dressed in skirts, dresses and pantsuits, people do a double take. After all, this six-year-old ginger cat has more than 200,000 Instagram followers. For the past five years, August’s pet parent, Imlinenla Jamir, has been dressing her in clothes ranging from cottagecore-inspired gingham PJs to Marilyn Monroe-style dresses and strings of pearls. “Augustus is a diva,” laughs Jamir, who works in the corporate sector. “Cats can be extremely moody; there are days you can’t even touch her. But then there are days when she likes to be fully dressed and pose for the camera. During the covid-19 lockdown, my mother started making her clothes at home, just for fun. Later, when we started posting her photos on social media, we got a good response. We still make her clothes at home, but now we are also a big change.” The change Jamir refers to is the evolution of the pet apparel and accessories landscape in the country. Gone are the days when the options were limited to a red or a blue T-shirt, or a green or a dotted bow. Now you can buy a chikan kurta, a tailored tuxedo, a hand-embroidered lehnga, a cotton shirt with a logo of your choice, even throw in a bamboo fiber or denim leash hand-embellished with words, letters or numbers. Pet fashion is moving towards becoming as indulgent as human fashion, with customization services widely available. View Full Image August, the ginger cat The Indian pet market, in terms of pet products and services, has been on the rise for a while now. It was $10.5 billion in FY24 and estimated to be $16.2 billion by FY32, according to the Markets and Data Platform (there are no specific figures available for the pet apparel industry). The reasons for this are several, including the rise of nuclear families, increase in income and change in perception towards pets. Much of this has to do with the “growing ‘humanization’ of pets,” says Akshay Gupta, the Delhi-based founder of Pet Fed, a festival that has brought everything pet-related—apparel and food brands, adoption drives, workshops, runway shows—under one roof since 2011. as much importance as companionship with, say, a human partner or a human child, and it’s reflected in a way in how they dress their animals.” View full image On average, more than 100 clothing stores participate in Pet Fed, which takes place in four cities annually, starting in November. On average, more than 100 clothing stores participate in Pet Fed, which takes place in four cities annually, starting in November. These are Delhi, Mumbai, and Bengaluru, while the fourth city continues to change—this year it’s Pune. Five years ago, the number stalls by half. To indicate the growth of the pet fashion industry, Bengaluru-based Vineet Khanna, the co-founder of pet supply store Supertails, offers a company-specific example. “During Diwali, we sold a few thousand sherwanis, almost 10 times what we sold last year. You see more clothes because the customer wants to see and buy more clothes.” Supertails is working on collections designed in collaboration with two of India’s leading fashion designers, whose names are currently under the radar. The rise in pet fashion creation is not just limited to big brands. When Kota’s Vandana Suman, who used to work in the administration department of a private school, started The Chow Meow during the pandemic as an online-only pet clothing and accessories brand, she got one or two customers a month, she sold more than 30 outfits, including lehngas and bow ties. Suman also creates outfits based on what Bollywood actors are wearing and what’s in fashion,” says Suman, whose offerings are in the ₹2,000-4,000 range spread across India, the US, Dubai and Europe. “People now don’t just want their pets to be dressed up for special occasions; they want to wear something personal every day.” View full image Designer Ashna Vaswani with her dog, Khalisi, wearing a Kutta Couture outfit. This idea of everyday fashion for pets was behind Kutta Couture, a line of accessories by Jaipur-based designer Ashna Vaswani, launched in September. “Not every dog or cat enjoys wearing clothes on a daily basis. So, I thought why not play with accessories so that the pet can look stylish and sassy all the time,” says Vaswani. Her leashes, collars and harnesses, in the range of ₹7,000-18,000, can be hand-embroidered or hand-painted with a message the customer wants. “Some have requested their pet’s dates of birth; some their names,” says Vaswani, who received nearly 30 orders just a week before Diwali. Is this interest in pet clothing fueled by social media—dress up your pet and post on Instagram? “Social media has now become a reason for almost everything we do. But people won’t go through the trouble of choosing a fabric, a specific color, the embroidery and spend more than ₹20,000 on just one outfit for their pet, will they?” replies Rhea Goyal, the Delhi-based founder of Furrvanity, which makes custom pet clothing and accessories. She gives the example of one of her recent creations for a Shih Tzu, which was a ring bearer at a wedding, to reiterate her point. “The groom wore a Manish Malhotra sherwani and he wanted the same outfit for his dog, so we discussed everything with them—from the fabric to the color, buttons and hand embroidery. Jamir agrees social media drives people’s interest. “It’s like how we see what others wear abroad and want similar styles for ourselves here. The same applies when it comes to pets. But the difference is, you can’t force them to wear something. If August wants to sit naked all day, she will. If she wants to be (Audrey) Hepburn, she’ll happily wear the black dress and the pearl necklace and pose.” What’s the next big trend in pet fashion? The same thing that’s next in human fashion: eco-friendly materials. “Like natural things that are weather-friendly, fur-friendly…types of cotton, jute. want the best for themselves and for their four-legged children. And why not? They’re family after all.” Get all the Business News, Market News, Breaking News Events and Latest News Updates on Live Mint. Download the Mint News app to get daily market updates. more topics #Features Read next story
