That sweet and stunning portrait Lucy Liu posted last week to introduce her son Rockwell Lloyd to the world? Yes, it was rightfully focused on the blissful new mom and baby, but did you notice the adorable dog fabric that’s swaddling the newborn and providing the beautifully-lit backdrop? That happens to be the result of another offscreen endeavor the actress recently gave birth to — a prestige line of pet products called Le Roar.
In fact, before the surprise appearance of Rockwell, a dog named Apple reigned supreme as the only apple of the Elementary actress’ eye. One peek at her active Instagram account and its multitude of adorable fur-kid photos and videos will tell you that Liu’s a totally devoted pet parent — and one peek at DoggieNames.com’s Facebook page will tell you that they’re two of our all-time faves as well. Just the day before her son’s birth, the Charlie’s Angels star posted a video of the brown Lab enjoying a Le Roar squeaky toy in celebration of National Dog Day.
And just the week before that, Liu announced the official launch of Le Roar, which offers a U.S.-manufactured line of towels, beds, aprons and toys. In a recent email interview, she shared that the goal with Le Roar was to create a line “with an emphasis on style, sustainability and safety.” The style part comes easily to Liu and her co-founder Ellen Stockbridge, a costumer Liu met on the set of her CBS series.
Liu’s always been a fashion trendsetter (who could forget her delicious guest shot as the true owner of the famous Birkin bag in Sex and the City?) and her red-carpet choices have landed her on a host of prestigious best-dressed lists over the years.
But here’s a couple other things you might not know about our favorite dog mom — she’s got a thriving career as a director (her episode of the USA Network series Graceland happened to air the same day Rockwell was born), and she’s an accomplished artist, whose paintings, collages and other works have been shown at prestigious galleries and in exhibitions in New York, L.A., London and even on her character Joan Watson’s apartment walls. The woman definitely knows her design.
But beyond their shared love of fashion and art, Stockbridge and Liu bonded over their affection for their dogs – Apple often watches her mom at work on the Elementary set — so Le Roar was a logical next step.
LeRoar Supermodel Apple Liu
The women designed the “Le Silhouette” pattern together, “and included as many different dogs as possible to make it inclusive. We wanted something simple and attractive that supported the Le Roar aesthetic,” Liu says of the clean, modern motif that appears on the whimsically named Le Bed, Le Apron and Le Squeaky Toy.
The pair definitely did something right — the line is so fashion-forward that none other than Barney’s New York has teamed up with them to sell their beds and towels, which are also set to be featured in an upcoming pet-centered edition of Oprah magazine.
And since my friends call me Doggienista, I, of course, had to be among the first to have Le Towel. It was easy to order, came in a couple days, and even included a nice note from the creators. It’s gorgeous, held its color after a wash and most importantly — it has Daisy Jo and Bud Earl’s seal of approval, though (as you’ll see below) my baby Bud felt the need to cover up the cat portion of the design.
A longtime UNICEF Ambassador, Liu says Le Roar will definitely be supporting animal charities, though they haven’t yet settled on one specific organization. LeRoar’s very first appearance at a benefit, though, is scheduled for September 13th at the Badass Brooklyn Animal Rescue’s Fall Festival in Brooklyn, NY.
So yes, our girl definitely has her hands full with Le Roar, her day job on Elementary, her side gig as a director, her charity work — and most importantly, her thriving new career as one of coolest celeb moms in the world — but there’s no doubt she’ll conquer it all with class and style. Vive Le Roar et La Liu!
Daisy Jo wanted to get into the act too.
Celebrity Dog Blog 