Haute dog couture: Pet Gala channels Zendaya, Gigi Hadid and more with Met gown re-creations
Call the pup-arazzi.
Sixteen dogs looked quite fetching in their high-end designer wear on Monday for the inaugural Pet Gala, reimagining the best looks from this year’s Met Gala.
And while Zendaya and Jennifer Lopez might have stolen the show as co-hosts of the Met Gala, Kimba and Daffodil stole everyone’s hearts.
Inspired by the stars who walked the carpet at the Met earlier this month, pet couturier Anthony Rubio created looks for fashionable canines, including his own dog, Kimba the Chihuahua. Taking cues from Zendaya’s dramatic Maison Margiela gown, Kimba’s train was longer than her tail as she strutted the dog-walk at the American Kennel Club Museum of the Dog.
Livie, a Morkie, had a supermodel moment as she channeled Gigi Hadid in her yellow rose-adorned dress. Both Livie and Hadid have been modeling for about 10 years, but the tiny ball of fluff knew how to work the red carpet just as well as the 29-year-old runway model.
The Morkie had plenty of tricks that elicited a round of a-paws from guests, including posing on a wall on her hind legs and standing on a table to show off the length of her gown.
Her ensemble was just one of the 16 canine versions of outfits Rubio crafted to “emulate and celebrate” fashion’s biggest night out. Of course, Rubio had to wait until every celeb walked the steps of the Metropolitan Museum of Art before getting to work.
“Are you kidding?” he told The Post. “This was, like, break out the popcorn, sit down in front of that set and get your notepad ready. As they came out, I was, like, ‘I want that one, I want this one.'”
As someone who “lives, eats and drinks fashion,” Rubio knew exactly which designs he wanted to re-create as he watched the star-studded event.
“I picked the best of the best to put on the dogs and show that the magnificence of these garments had to be translated,” Rubio said.
One outfit in particular that Rubio was “so excited” for was his redesign of J.Lo’s gown. He explained that many people didn’t even know that the pattern of the garment was meant to mimic the wings of a monarch butterfly, which he wanted to make sure was highlighted when Daffodil the Pomeranian modeled the outfit.
But it was a “race against time” for Rubio, who was putting garments together until the last minute.
“Each is a couture piece, and a lot of them are hand-sewn, so I’ve been, like, morning, noon and night, going into the wee hours, putting these garments together with all my blood, sweat and tears, and all my love because I want these pieces to be instantly recognizable,” he shared.
But sometimes it can be ruff creating couture for canines, according to Rubio, who called it “no easy chore.”
“Everything you see on the dog is usually either face front or on their back, so you don’t get that view that you get with the people,” Rubio explained. “So, I have to, of course, tinker around and tweak things so that you see the imagination that went into the garments.”
And he isn’t out to be biting stars or those who dress them.
“We’re not making fun,” he said. “We’re celebrating these designers, and I would never want any of them ever to feel insulted that I’m putting it on a dog.”
This year, Rubio also thought bigger: After a test Pet Gala event last year for the press only, 2024’s event was open to the public and had about 150 guests. Tickets for the event cost $300 and included a sit-down dinner for patrons.
The designs retailed between $450 and $1,200, which all of the model pups’ owners already purchased.
While Rubio has long been an advocate for animal rescue, pet adoption and pet population control, raising more than $4 million for a range of organizations, the profits from the Pet Gala are benefiting the Museum of the Dog — just like the Met Gala benefits the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
“A lot of people don’t know enough about this museum. I think it’s a really fabulous idea to have it at a museum dedicated to dogs so we’re celebrating our pets,” he said of the AKC, which just held the Westminster Dog Show and owns the Museum of the Dog.
“Having borne witness to the stunning fashions of the Met Gala for decades, it was instantly clear that the AKC Museum of the Dog is the only suitable home for Anthony Rubio’s Pet Gala,” Christopher Bromson, CEO and executive director of the AKC Museum of the Dog, said in a statement.
The next thing Rubio is hoping to manifest? Going to the actual Met Gala — with his dog.
