Canine Royalty Makes High-End Dog Clothing and Accessories

Photograph courtesy of Canine Royalty

You look fabulous, but what about your pup? There he is—struggling to maintain his dignity as you strap him into that ill-fitting raincoat or acrylic-and-Velcro contraption barely passing as a jacket. Utterly embarrassing for all involved.

Fortunately, Erin Walsh, a pharmaceutical public relations professional, was just as dissatisfied with the chintzy pet clothes available for her rescue dachshund, Rufus. Until one afternoon, that is, when she stopped into Harrods in London and discovered a high-end U.K. line of dog sweaters. That’s when she decided to scratch her business itch.

Walsh returned to Boston and set about creating Canine Royalty, a deluxe line of American-made clothing and accessories that would please even the most pedigreed of pups. She was uncompromising: Only 100 percent cashmere sweaters and cozy merino-wool coats made of textiles sourced in Italy and knit in the States would do. “I wanted to develop something that was really upscale and luxurious,” she says. “That’s where the idea of using cashmere came from.”

The next challenge: designing and constructing stylish, four-paw-friendly silhouettes. “I looked at a lot of human fashion and wanted to reimagine it for dogs,” she says. So Walsh reached out to the Parsons School of Design in New York City, where she connected with a designer who produced cashmere sweaters for Ralph Lauren. The “Boston Coat” ($150), for example, is a Fido-friendly spin on the classic pea coat and puffer vest, featuring intricate details like channel quilting and a ribbed knit.

Voguing in the dog park is just the beginning. Canine Royalty also specializes in custom dog beds with midcentury-modern flair. The overstuffed vintage-washed beds (starting at $250) are produced by a pillow–manufacturing company in Atlanta, and the sleek maple bed frames are made in Walpole. They come in two sizes—one high-rise and one low-rise (for the vertically challenged breeds, like Rufus).

Though Walsh doesn’t have immediate plans to make clothes for extra-large breeds or for kitty companions, she is starting to work on dog bowls, leashes, and collars: “We want to do everything a little differently—a little more high-end, so we just need to find a unique way to do those products. But that’s next.”

Canine Royalty, canineroyalty.com.