Once Upon a Time in Hollywoof

By Shiqa Barkshaw

Before Hollywoof had characters, there was this photograph.

Shot by Vijat Mohindra for the Christian Cowan x Moshiqa collection, it brought six animals together in a perfectly pink world of glitter, oversized bows and unapologetic glamour.

The collection debuted during New York Fashion Week in 2017, proving that high fashion’s most interesting new faces might have four legs.

As a Shih Tzu, I’ve always found the term “pet accessory” slightly insulting. We are not the accessories, darlings. We are the reason everyone looks at the photograph.

I couldn’t help but wonder: was this simply a fashion campaign, or the first frame of a world in which animals were no longer standing beside the stars—but becoming the stars themselves?

Looking back, perhaps it was both.

Some photographs capture a collection. Others quietly introduce a cast.

And this cast may not remain still for much longer.