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Which event is known for bringing together glitzed out stars for one of fashion’s most interesting, daring, and outrageous nights?
The Met Gala? Perhaps. But we’re actually talking about the Pet Gala!
At an event that brought out the paw-parazzi, posh rescue pooches were dressed to the nines to honour a few of the looks that lit up the red carpet at this year’s Met Gala.
The event is the brainchild of Anthony Rubio, an award-winning American pet couturier who recreated tiny versions of the outfits worn by Salma Hayek, Rihanna and Pedro Pascal for a Yorkie, a Chorkie and a Pomeranian.
“As an advocate for animal rescue and pet adoption I have, from the start, used the platform afforded me through my fashion design career to bring awareness to the plight of those who needed a voice to speak for them,” he says.
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The designer, who manufactures and sells bespoke garments tailored to his furry clients' specific needs, is the host of a Los Angeles fashion show called Canine Couture.
He’s known as the first designer to put dogs on the catwalk at New York Fashion Week and has designed everything from bedazzled cropped jackets to tiny tuxedos and even beautiful ballgowns for rescues who’ve stolen his heart.
“Eighteen years ago, I adopted a dog that had been really beaten and abused,” Anthony told The Guardian. “He used to shake and tremble. One day I decided to make him a jacket and it really calmed him down. Then we dressed him up as Elvis for Halloween and before you know it we were winning competitions all over New York. The rest is history.”
Since 2013 fashion-obsessed Anthony, who was previously a high school teacher, has sewed mini garments.
He used the runway show – billed as “the feelgood show of the season” – to auction the outfits and raise more than $4 million (R76 million) for animal shelters and rescue groups in the US.
“I decided that I wanted to create an event similar to the Met Gala to raise funds for animal rescue, and who better to help me than actual rescues as models?"
After the success of his show, he ramped up the drama and his design skills to make tiny but bold looks for 11 rescue dogs and a cat in honour of the Met.
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“This year the theme, as was with the Met Gala, was a celebration of the late great legend, Karl Lagerfeld.
“The Met Gala had Doja Cat,” Anthony said at his event held in New York. “We have an actual cat.”
But the most challenging garment to recreate? Actor Jared Leto's full-body catsuit that took Anthony about two weeks to make, he told the New York Post.
“I enjoyed recreating the most standout creations of the recent Met Gala and hope they have moved and enticed everyone into wanting more,” he said, hoping next year’s event will be even more lavish.
“Everything I do, I do for my love of animals.”
SOURCES: NYPOST.COM; DAILYMAIL.CO.UK; THEGUARDIAN.COM; USATODAY.COM; MAGAZINEFEATURES.CO.ZA
