Wooflink
New design house out of Asia is kreating a K-9 kommotionby Scott Rose
Stop Chasing Me DressDesigner: Wooflink
In all my snoop-doggy-dogging around the world in the past year, I noticed a trend towards super cool clothes on K-9s. Down on the Chelsea Piers, it was a Glamour Pooch T on a feisty Yorkie-Jack Russell mix. Over in the grand stadium in Marseilles, a hot bichon frise in a Stop Chasing Me dress. Out on sunny Huntington Dog Beach in California, a pair of Dragon pants with a pocket skull appliqué on a fashionably wet Golden Retriever hangin' ten on a surfboard.
Turns out, all this coolness has a single source: Wooflink (www.wooflink.com), coming at us out of Hong Kong, of all places. Founded in the winter of '06, Wooflink is headed by designer Sun Lee. The company's motto: Cool clothes are not just for humans any more.
Sun Lee is a contemporary cosmopolite; she's lived in various spots around the globe including Korea and Canada. In Hong Kong, she worked as a designer for a major UK toy contractor, producing items for Disney, Mothercare, ELC and others. She especially enjoyed designing doll clothing, one of her inspirations for designing for dogs.
She is, of course (bow wow) a life-long dog lover. "Dogs are my family," she affirms. Currently in that family are Bruce, a Cocker Spaniel, Rex, a Doberman and Emma, a miniature poodle. Sun Lee says that because of their intelligence and loyalty, she just can't stop loving the four leggers.
Sassy Girl SkirtDesigner: Wooflink
I asked how she narrowed in on the international market for super kool dog wear. "People really love meticulously detailed, high-end designs, but few can afford very expensive designer dog clothes. I realized it would be great to provide affordable dog outfits that sacrifice nothing of design flair. My goal, always, is to make reasonably-priced garments with detailed designs to match and/or complement hip human fashion trends."
When it comes to fabulous detailing, Wooflink is fly for sure. Take by way of example the Sassy Girl denim dog skirt. That's gold glitter sparkling out of the dark denim. The trim definitely allures, with rhinestones and lace, no less. Perched on the waist is the cutest little pink-flapped pocket bag your barkin' Lil' Kim could ever hope to see. The skirt comes with a dependable suspender. It's 100% cotton and, the better to preserve its details, like most Wooflink clothing should be hand washed.
Sun Lee keeps her finger on the pulse of human fashion so she can incorporate elements of it into her Wooflink collection. While she's been influenced by important designers too numerous to mention here, the doggy twist she puts on things is uniquely her own. Quality is recognized; Wooflink has been a run-away success. No poochy pun intended with run-away.
Much of the original Wooflink collection has completely sold out; the Denim Baby, Pink Training One-Piece and the Wild Wild West garments are flat out of stock. Hoping for one is like being thirty cents shy of a quarter. I asked whether these popular items might ever again become available. "Most likely not. We want to give consumers fresh options for each new season. Once a piece runs out, we wouldn't reproduce it, unless there were to be overwhelming demand from our customers." So if you're a Maltese with nothing to wear for your next trip to the mall, and you're hoping for a Wooflink Denim Lady dress, your best bet is to sit pretty facing Hong Kong and make an irresistible pleading little whine. Mall-tease; get it?
Peace HoodieDesigner: Wooflink
The timely Peace piece is still available in most sizes. This garment is more hip... not to say hippy... retro than hip hop. Studs forming a peace sign are ironically counterpointed by a red skull and crossbones. Within the graphic printing on the pocket, the irony is taken to another level with a heart criss-crossed by bones. The black background offset by grey stripes is perfect for walking in the East Village or whichever village you happen to frequent.
Many of Wooflink's threads are decorated with callouts that'll give your four-pawed bud major street cred. If "Where My Dogs At?" doesn't do the trick, maybe "Bling Bling" will. The pink on black model of the Bling Bling doggy shirt has metal rivets around the printing, and hot pink stitching around the trim. This Bling Bling doo-rag is a head-turner. Take your dog outside with it on where other peeps are around, and you just might want to have her sing from Pink's first album Can't Take Me Home.
In designing for Wooflink, Sun Lee doesn't always follow industry rules. Instead of playing it safe by going with timeless classics, she'll conceive of new doggy clothes based on what's going to match what she wants to wear next season. "Doing that makes us stand out," she says, "and gives us a way of squeezing into this very competitive business."
New this season, the Chic Chick coat grew out of customer requests for something that would be girly, but still chic. It's got a "sosoft" fleece lining, an embroidered logo, star rivets and a gold trim line on the back. "I made this with the dog's comfort totally in mind," says Sun Lee, "and it's a great match with a skirt, besides."
Rock'n Roll Baby DressDesigner: Wooflink
The designer recently learned that other animals have been muscling onto her fashion runway. "I just received the cutest pic from a customer in the Netherlands. It shows a bunny wearing my Can't Help Being Cool T in gray with silver rivets. Seems the rabbit was feeling under the weather, so his owner got the Wooflink shirt to keep his chest warm. I had never thought about a rabbit wearing clothes. But who can say? Maybe in ten years, rabbits will strut their stuff as frequently as dogs strut theirs today."
Sun Lee points to her Jockey Boy dog pants as a prime example of something suitable for mixing and matching. "The faux leather on the hip and pockets of this soft yellow mud cotton pant lends the garment a luxurious look. Our careful attention to detail can be seen in the embroidery, rivets and gold/red trim." Your dog will really be able to show his personal flava by combining the Jockey Boy pants with one of Wooflink's masculine Ts, jackets or hoodies.
The company has enviable achievements under its designer belt for having been in business so short a time. The Wooflink collection has been shown at numerous trade shows as well as at fashion shows in the US, Canada, the Netherlands and Belgium. Rock'n Roll Baby, one of the most popular of Wooflink designs, was a huge hit in Japan. Sun Lee promises cool surprises with her upcoming hot additions to the collection.
Will your dog want to wear his Wooflink pants baggy and low, so he can show his swagger off to all the bitches in the hood? Will your local doggarazzi write that your black pug has homeboy chic? Sportin' these duds, your K-9 is sure to make an impression. And if there's anything that comes through with Sun Lee's designs, besides a sense of total cool, it's love. "We're not just doing this as a business," she says, "we want to share our happiness over our dogs with the whole world." Woof! Woof!! Wooflink!!!
