How much is too much when it comes to spoiling your pet?
Enough to buy it a vintage Hermès collar? That, at least, is the spirit behind ‘I Love My Pet,’ a new offering from Maurice Auction in Paris that will bring together a collection devoted entirely to designer dog and cat accessories next month.
The auction will feature an extensive assemblage of pet travel accoutrements, leather goods, collars, leashes, harnesses, and clothing, all drawn from a single collector. This provenance gives the collection “a remarkable coherence” and “collectible dimension,” Maurice Auction founders Salomé Pirson and Marie-Laurence Tixier tell Elite Traveler.
Beyond the names – Hermès and Goyard – the collection may appeal to collectors because these pieces were produced in much smaller numbers than handbags and accessories, making them harder to find.
According to Pirson and Tixier, standout pieces include the Goyard travel bags, because of “their different colors that perfectly capture the spirit of the sale: playful and unexpected, yet extremely elegant and beautifully made,” and the XXL Goyard trunk. It is “undoubtedly one of the centerpieces of the auction. It takes something very familiar, a wardrobe, and recreates it entirely for a pet.” The trunk is expected to sell for €2,500 – €3,500 (approx. $2,900 – $4,000).
For them, the collection “reflects how much the place of pets in our lives has evolved. The attention once reserved for our own clothes, travel or accessories now extends to them. The French, naturally, have a phrase for it: ‘Tel maître, tel chien,’ [which translates to ‘like owner, like dog’ in English], and this collection illustrates it perfectly. The pieces chosen for these pets reveal a great deal about their owner’s own taste, style, and way of life.
Related article: Designer Dog Collars For Your Pampered Pooch
“When you buy something for yourself, it can be about style, craftsmanship or collecting,” the founders explain. “When you buy something for your pet, there is also an element of affection and pleasure in extending your own universe and taste to an animal you love.” And it’s true – a dog does not know what Goyard is. It most definitely does not care about French leather craftsmanship. But its owner does.
Pirson and Tixier expect the Goyard pieces – in particular the XXL trunk – to appeal to buyers looking for unexpected objects from the house. Hermès, meanwhile, could attract both collectors and people who actually intend to use the pieces, “because collars and leads fit very naturally into the broader Hermès universe.”
Related article: How Far Would You Go to Keep Your Pet Alive for Longer?
They also believe that the audience may be wider than one might anticipate: “We expect interest to extend beyond pet owners to collectors of fashion, leather goods, and objects associated with these historic houses.”
The auction opens October 4 – the same day Paris’s Sausage Walk brings its famously well-dressed dachshunds onto the streets of the city – and closes on October 15. This gives Paris’s pet set nearly two weeks to decide their next acquisition.
