For its March issue, the Italian magazine Icon Design came up with an amusing way of spotlighting one of the pandemic’s unsung heroes — the pets keeping us sane during lockdown — by pairing serious, high-end set designs by stylist Greta Cevenini with portraits of eight dogs belonging to influential Italians. Titled “My Best Friend,” the editorial features, among others, Linea, the president of Fondazione Castiglioni’s dachshund, perched on a Vincent Van Duysen chair; Slurp, the retriever of PR maven Silvia Negri Firman, paws-up on a B&B Italia sofa; and Madame Royal, the poodle of architect Fabrizio Bartolomeo, posing on a Living Divani daybed. Hilarity aside, though, the project is kind of genius, because how many of us feel like luxury design is relevant to our lives at this exact moment? But make it cuddly, and it’s a whole other story.

PHOTOS BY MARIA VITTORIA BACKHAUS