She has two personal maids, for both night and day. She is beyond spoiled.
Karl Lagerfeld was talking about his cat, not a dog. But his remark captures the premise of the modern luxury pet accessory market: animals may be unable to appreciate a maison’s history, design language, or social meaning, but their owners certainly can, and at least some of them have the wealth and the will to indulge their pets. Or more accurately, themselves.
The Essential View: Luxury pet accessories aren’t absurd simply because dogs can’t appreciate design or branding. Much human luxury is purchased for reasons other than practical ones. The category becomes absurd when branding and price overwhelm comfort, durability, or other genuine benefit. Hermès makes the strongest case for legitimate luxury. Gucci offers branded décor on unacceptably one-sided purchase terms. Louis Vuitton reaches—and far surpasses—the category’s absurd edge.
What makes a luxury pet accessory absurd?
A pet’s inability to recognize the brand is mostly irrelevant to the absurdity of a luxury accessory. Many of our luxury purchases are for reasons that are emotional, aesthetic, and symbolic—not practical. Besides, if a lack of wearer or user recognition makes luxury pet accessories absurd, then it should make luxury items for children equally absurd.
A luxury pet accessory may be defensible when it performs the job for which it’s designed at least as well as a reasonably priced, well-made, specialist alternative, and when it gives the owner substantial additional pleasure through craftsmanship or design. It crosses into absurdity when the owner has to accept reduced practicality and high prices while receiving little beyond brand recognition.
That said, it’s not surprising to see maisons de grand luxe offering pet accessories. The American Veterinary Medical Association reported in 2026 that nearly 80% of dog owners considered their dog a member of the family. The American Pet Products Association placed total US pet-industry spending at $158 billion in 2025 and projected $165 billion for 2026. These figures explain why luxury houses see pets as an extension of household consumption. Whether that means we want to buy our pets luxury items costing thousands of dollars is a different matter.
In this article, I look at three examples of luxury pet accessories, each more expensive than the last. Does that make each more absurd as well?
For each accessory, I include the price as a multiple of the most expensive equivalent I could find at PetSmart, a large US online and brick-and-mortar pet supply retailer.
Hermès Punch Dog Collar
Hermès Punch Dog Collar. Image: Hermès
Hermès’ Punch Dog Collar, available in M and L sizes, retails for $2,125 / 1 640 €. It features natural bridle leather and Clou de Forge studs, and comes with an engravable Hermès Sellier Paris medal.
With its roots in equestrian equipment, Hermès has a claim to long expertise in the field of making accessories for animals. The Punch Dog Collar is extravagantly priced, but it translates legitimate Hermès expertise into an object whose basic purpose remains intact. Removing the Hermès name wouldn’t eliminate the object’s principal virtues. It would still be a well-made bridle leather collar with substantial hardware and an engravable medal.
Most expensive broadly comparable product found: KANDOG leather collar, retail price $49 (42 €). Price ratio: $2,125 ÷ $49 = 43:1.
