Fashion runways may be called catwalks, but the Pet Gala is the dogs’ time to shine.
Designer Anthony Rubio threw the now-annual fashion fete on Monday night. A wall bedecked with flowers and a long red carpet greeted attendees at the entrance of the American Kennel Club Museum of the Dog. Most days, the museum holds the world’s leading collection of dog art. But on this night, it hosts doggie models.
Rubio costumed 18 canines that took to the red carpet at New York’s AKC museum. Each dog donned haute couture similar to what celebrities wore at the Met Gala just two weeks earlier.
“I want people to understand that we’re not making fun of the Met Gala. We’re not mimicking the Met Gala,” Rubio says. “We’re elevating and appraising and appreciating the wonderful designs that were presented at the Met Gala by the most talented designers of the world.”
At $300 per ticket, proceeds from the Pet Gala benefit the host museum—much like the earlier human event serves as a fundraiser for the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute.
Most of the furry fashionistas were pint-sized—from shih tzus to chihuahuas. A lone Leonberger represented the big dogs.
This year’s gala dress code was the Garden of Time, accompanying the Met’s “Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion” exhibit.
Rubio says his canine couture is all about comfort. “Humans can suffer for their fashion, but dogs will not,” Rubio insists. “Their comfort and safety is my top priority.”
(Do you think the dogs are more comfortable in these fancy getups than in their natural furry attire alone?)
The dogs’ outfits will be housed at the Museum of the Dog for the month of June, Rubio says.
“Every photographer tells you it’s the hardest job to work with . . . kids and animals. Not in my world,” says Rubio. He worked “tirelessly” to adapt the garments in the short timeframe. “I think the people are a lot harder to work with because the dogs do not complain.”
Unlike its uptown counterpart, the carpet at the AKC Museum Pet Gala did not quite go unsullied. One pup even had a little “accident.” Oops. Dogs will be dogs.
