This story appears in i-D 375, The Beta Issue. Get yours here.
All the greatest It bags have even greater muses: The Hermés Birkin, famously inspired by Jane Birkin; the Lady Dior, an homage to Princess Diana; Gucci’s Jackie, named after First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis. Ten years ago a gentleman entered the ranks of those legendary ladies: Hector Browne. The dachshund may stand at a modest 5-inches-tall, but he commands the same respect and reverence as fashion’s most historic muses.
“At the beginning, it was just a folly,” Thom Browne tells us of creating a purse in the shape of his pup, “But Hector is such a part of our lives, and I think it’s important to do things in the collection that are personal.” Browne grew up a dog-lover, with golden retrievers and beagles, and it was his partner Andrew Bolton, the chief curator of the Costume Institute at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, who first introduced him to the wire-haired dachshund. It was love at first sight.
Since the Hector bag’s runway debut for Browne’s 2016 Fall/Winter collection, the style now comes in a range of materials from pebbled leather to tweed, and has inspired its own petting zoo of other animals, honing in on the universal desire to take your pet everywhere—albeit as a purse. Despite Hector’s popularity, celebrity hasn’t gone to the good boy’s head. “He’s very humble.” Thom assures us. “He’s happy just being Hector at home.”
Hector, what are you wearing today?
Woof.
What do you do to unwind?
Woof… woof woof.
What’s your morning routine?
Woof, woof, woof, woof, woof… woof. Woof!
What do you think the role of the modern muse is?
Woof.
Can I get your autograph?
[Shake.]
photographed by HUY LUONG
styled by SAM KNOLL
production THE MORRISON GROUP
location HIGHLIGHT STUDIOS