Philipp Plein on Turning a €1,500 Dog Bed Into a Fashion Empire

German fashion designer Philipp Plein is an unlikely success story. Plein, who owns clothing brands Philipp Plein, Plein Sport, and the Billionaire brand, is a serial entrepreneur who started out with pet furniture in 1998. This year he is celebrating 25 years of his brand.

He eventually moved to interior design with his own furniture lines, and then a namesake luxury fashion brand, debuting menswear, womenswear, and glitzy accessories in 2008 with a trademark style of rock ‘n’ roll glamor.

Since then, it has become a multimillion-dollar brand. He recently collaborated on a line of sneakers with rapper Snoop Dogg and has celebrities like Naomi Campbell, Gwen Stefani, Paris Hilton, and Jennifer Lopez wearing his garments.

This spring, he launched a luxury watch division called Made in Switzerland, and his latest collections include a timepiece collaboration with Eddie Jordan, the former Formula One team owner, and the Crypto King and Crypto Queen Collection, which can be purchased with cryptocurrency.

He also recently launched a scent called Plein Fatale, his first female fragrance. Now, he’s going full force into the sportswear market with Plein Sport, relaunching an athletic brand that’s inspired by futurism. Plein Sport recently opened two boutiques—one in New York City’s SoHo neighborhood and in Los Angeles, inside the Beverly Center.

Meanwhile, he’s planning on opening his first namesake hotel in Milan this coming winter.

Plein speaks to Penta about his success, what’s next in fashion, and the dog bed that started it all.

PENTA: How did you become a fashion designer?

Philipp Plein: My dad is a doctor, so I was supposed to be a doctor, too. But at the last minute, I changed my mind and went to law school to become a lawyer. Then, I started designing dog beds because I read an article in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, a newspaper lawyers read, in 1998. There was a crisis in Japan and an article about the pet supply industry, which was not affected by the crisis—people still loved their pets and won’t stop spending money on them. Our family dog became pregnant and had eight babies, we had to give many away, but kept three. We had four dogs. My mom was always looking for dog beds.

What was the first product?

I came up with the idea of designing a Le Corbusier-style bed for dogs, a Bauhaus-inspired steel frame sofa. This was my first business venture; I was a dog-bed designer. I don’t even know how I did it—selling dog beds. I did the numbers, I thought to myself: If I buy these dog beds for €500 each and sell them for €1,500 each, and I sell 1,000 of them, I’m a millionaire. I thought this must be possible. Considering the amount of people who have pets, I was driven to sell 1,000 beds and I did, but it took me two years, after I understood how to sell it. I went to a consumer trade show in Frankfurt, and I exhibited the dog beds and registered my Philipp Plein patent in 1998, the brand was born 25 years ago.

How did it feel to enter the fashion industry in 2004?

Once I entered the fashion industry by mistake, by way of furniture, I just wanted to be an entrepreneur, I just wanted to become rich. I was young, in my 20s, wanted to be independent from my parents, have a beautiful home, car, watch and girlfriend. That was my dream. I was materialistically blinded by consumerism. Many goals of young people are materialistic targets. It’s sad to say, but it is what it is. In fashion, I was an outsider.

Now, you’re working on a new brand called Plein Sport, what sparked it?

The active sportswear market is much bigger than the luxury fashion market, in terms of turnover. If you go to the gym, you don’t have many options to choose from. The sportswear market today is only positioned in entry and middle-level price points. If the consumer wants to have a more luxury version of their sports gear, they can hardly find options in the market. In the fashion industry, the consumer can choose from low or entry prices like Fashion Nova, Gap, or H&M, to medium brands like Michael Kors, Hugo Boss and Diesel, or luxury brands like Gucci and Prada. In the sportswear market today, the consumer doesn’t have this option. We will make a difference with Plein Sport.

What do you credit for your own success?

I always believed in my dreams, I always say I’m a believer and a dreamer. I really stick to it. I often see people starting something, stopping it, doing something different, wasting a lot of time. I was always very concentrated and focused on my goals. I started something and I never gave up. If you keep your eyes open, you see there’s a lot of opportunities around you. I always went with the flow. I always took opportunities.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.