Jody Miller-Young
Jody Miller-Young
Dog Fashion Expert/Reporter – Bark and Swagger
Founder/Designer-Couture by Sophie, Inc.
It was all Sophie’s fault!
A little practice dog coat made for Jody’s Portuguese Podengo Pequeno, Sophie, got such a positive response on the streets of New York City, that it wasn’t long before she was designing and making more. Miller-Young’s luxury dog apparel brand, Couture by Sophie, reflects her passion for fashion and adapting runway chic to our dog’s lives. Jody likes to say it’s Sophie’s company, and she just works for her, because Sophie is her model, muse and best bud (and an awesome boss).
Miller-Young’s debut collection, The Icons, pays homage to fashion icons in music, featuring cruelty-free materials with designs inspired by such artists as Cher, Cyndi Lauper, Whitney Houston, Britney Spears, Elvis and Sid Vicious. You’ll see why in the next section. Her Classic Collection bespoke coats use lush, luxury fabrics and faux fur. And while Miller-Young loves creating eye-catching dog fashion, she also loves sharing the wonderful pieces, brands and designers she uncovers on a daily basis.
Stop, Wait…Strike A Pose
Being a bit of a sleuth is an occupational hazard for Jody. Before entering the pet fashion space, she spent 30 years as an entertainment publicist, wrangling celebrities on red carpets and working with reporters from all facets of the media. For 25 of those years, she ran her own firm, JLM PR, Inc., representing such interesting characters as Russell Simmons, Iggy Pop, John Mellencamp, Roger Waters, Duran Duran, Earth, Wind & Fire and many more. When she retired her company in its 25th year, she knew she wanted to do something completely new. As a clothes hound from childhood, sketching ideas in her pad that would come to her as she drifted off to sleep, Miller-Young chose to go back to school at the famed Project Runway’s, Parson’s School of Design.
With the intention of learning women’s fashion and starting a small, luxury custom brand, she also signed up for a sewing class, because Jody didn’t even know how to use a sewing machine! It was in that class that she made that practice dog coat and the rest, as they say, is history.
Jody gets her swagger on and so can you
That desire to share her finds with others that I talked about earlier? That led her to create Bark and Swagger, the everything- dog-fashion-and-more site. On Bark, Jody gets to offers tips, talks trends, write reviews and conduct interviews with experts of interest in the dog world. She also covers the celebs we know and the dogs they love, and she devotes a regular column to shelter dogs and the hero angels who advocate for them. What could be more fun than that?
Miller-Young is also a contributing editor of Hamptons Pet, the luxury lifestyle magazine celebrating the charmed lives of pets living on the East End.
On Jody’s Pet Life Radio show, Bark and Swagger, she shares the love we feel for our pets, and the beautiful, fun fashion available for them. Guest interviews with designers and other experts from the fashion arena, surprise co-hosts… you never know what interesting designer label or useful bit of info you’ll discover. So, what are you waiting for? Tune in and get your swagger on!