Zara’s Pet Apparel Segue

The Spanish high street favourite has expanded its product offering to include a variety of loungewear and outdoor gear for the canine companion, as well as accessories, beds and grooming tools. From padded jackets and rain macs to minimalist-friendly homewear, consumers can now kit out their pets in clothes that match their own aesthetics.

In the US, dog owners post content featuring their dogs on social media up to six times per week, with 11% creating an account specifically for their pet (Barkbox, 2017). Additionally, 30% of young pet owners in the UK feel that it’s important for their pet to keep up with clothing and grooming styles (Mintel, 2020).

And as the #pets Instagram tag currently boasts over 74 million individual posts (Instagram, 2021), it seems that global lockdowns and a shift to WFH lifestyles has increased the time spent at home with pets, and has therefore increased the consumer focus on showing off their four-legged friends.

Zara joins a variety of human-first fashion brands in producing pet apparel, with labels like America’s Heron Preston and Ralph Lauren, Italy’s GCDS and high street favourites such as H&M and River Island all jumping on the pet fashion bandwagon in order to satisfy the needs of aesthetic-conscious dog owners.

For more on shifts in consumer focus to pet-friendly purchases, see The Pet Care Boom and Meet the Pet People.