NEWS

CATALINA MAGAZINE For the mind, body, and sould of today's Latina - May/June 2005

Going to the Dogs

Sisters who play together start a canine couture business together
For the Furry Fashionista
Dog fashions by E&E Hallström can be found online at www.ehallstromc.com

By Rosa Calves

Growing up in Caracas, Venezuela, in the 1970s, the Hallström sisters designed and created fashionable clothes fro themselves an dtheir dolls. Eva Hallström the youngest, crocheted at six and Eleonor knitted at seven. " My sister and I always loved fashion," says Eva.
later, the two refined their creative skills, Eva now 41, wroked as a producer for one of the largest advertising and public relations agencies in the world, Ogilvy and Mather. And Eleononr, 45 studied architecture, and later became a graphic designer with the own company.
eventually - at no one's surprise - the two pursued their childhood passion to become trendsetters in a growing niche in the fashion industry: doggy couture.

Founded last June, their company E&E Hallström Haute Couture, speacializes in designing and making high-end fashions for dogs. Their canine couture has already been features in The New York Post and USA Today and by The Associated Press. One New York reporter described the signature canine clothes as "luxurious" and "intrincate".

"When Eva came with the idea, I didn't think it was crazy.I thought fashion for dogs was perfect," Eleonor adds.
Staying true to their creative roots, the two are spearheading ta revolution in the world of pet fashion. "A lot of things haven't been done, like couture dresses for dogs," Eva explains. "They look fantastic.And, they're very confortable."
Couture as opposed to mass produced fashions, means that you won't find a piece of Velcro on this four-legged attire. Attention to details - like snaps and buttons - is the name of the game here.
"When you're furry, the Vlecro sticks to the wronh places, and it's dirty," says Eva.

Sisters Eleonor and Eva were bron in their father's home country of Sweden, but were raised in their mother's native Venezuela. Like their childhood creations, their signature doggy designs feature detailed and embridered fabrics influenced by their Scandinavian heritage. " The embroidery part [of fashion], we learned from our grandmother in Sweden," Eva says. Owners of flax fileds in Swden, the women on their father's side of the family maintained a tradition of weaving their own linen fabrics. At the same time, the sisters say that the explosion of deep, rich colors in their creations is very Venezuelan. Today, the childhood clothing designers have distinctive skills.
A graphic designer by trade, Eleonor owned an award-winning Venezuelan company for more than 17 years before moving to the States to join her sister in business last year. "This is what I've always wanted to do," she says.Today, Eleonor spends her days sewing and knitting the fashion forward doggy attire. Eva brings an interesting combination to E&E Hallström: a communications and marketing background.After a stint wroking as a producer in Venezuela, she moved to London to study marketing. From there she moved to her current hometown, New York City, to study communications at NYU's Tisch School for the arts, which she followed with a few years on the web for Random House.Then something great happened in Eva's career. She was laid off."i thought: I don't want to go back to the corporate world", she explains . And she didn't. Almost on a whim, the sisters decided to go into business for themselves." One day I woke up and did a pitch to my husband: "How about designer clothes for dogs?" He liked it

Living in two cities, the sisters speak on the phone several times daily, and get together at least once a month to discuss, among other business matters, doggy fashion trends. The sister's are currently working on their company's new line of high-end fall fashions.
The press announcement for the spring and summer 2005 line says the fashionable threads - available in size 6 to 17, from around $100 to $150 - are "perfect for the warm weather because they are made of very thin, breathable and non heat producing materials" ... " for the active dog that wants to look glamorous."
What's the next for the sisters Hallström? MOre cutting-edge fashion, they say. "For the fall,we're coming out with some leather coats," Eva says.