At ‘master pet couturier’ Anthony Rubio’s fashion show, humans take a back seat as all eyes are on the pampered pooches dressed to kill
Hairdryers whirr, curling irons sizzle and clouds of hairspray fill the air backstage at LA fashion week, as stylists riffle through clothes rails and make frantic adjustments to hemlines. Models are lining up to be photographed, moments before the show begins, but they all seem a little distracted. One doesn’t want to budge from their spot, another starts sniffing someone’s crotch, while a third makes a break for an open door.
“The dogs are a lot easier than human models,” says designer Anthony Rubio, as he stitches a gold sequin on to a tiny pup-sized bedazzled jacket. “They don’t have opinions and they don’t compete with each other. They’re all about having a good time.”
I have come to the hot, brightly-lit basement of a glitzy venue in downtown Los Angeles, for a behind the scenes look at Rubio’s 2023 Canine Couture show. It is billed as “the feelgood show of the season”, the one event in the fashion calendar “where the humans are the accessories”. After four months living in LA, I feel I may have found its true spiritual centre.
Dogs are born with ready-to-wear fur coats, but that hasn’t stopped their owners from dressing them up further. From the simpler days of practical quilted jackets and waxed-cotton waterproofs, dog clothing and accessories has ballooned into a $10bn industry of designer pup ponchos, mutt-friendly miniskirts and hound-sized hats. Gucci, Celine and Hugo Boss produce luxury lines for four-legged friends, and even high-street brands such as H&M now offer ranges of pooch-shaped plaid shirts and fluffy turtleneck sweaters.
But Rubio’s creations are something else entirely. As the self-styled “master pet couturier”, he was the first designer to put dogs on the catwalk at New York fashion week, crafting tailored tuxedos and bespoke ballgowns that can cost up to $10,000. It has been quite a journey for this high-school teacher of 33 years, who once studied womenswear and fell into the canine fashion world by chance.
“Eighteen years ago, I adopted a dog that had been really beaten and abused,” says Rubio, as he fiddles with an embroidered cape backstage. “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 then, Rubio has appeared on Good Morning America and says he has raised more than $4m for various animal rescue charities, but it’s the dogs themselves that are the real celebrities. As I mill around the room, trying not to step on fluffy tails and lacy trains, I am handed business cards and stickers from the dog owners – sorry, “pet parents” – each proud mum eager to tell me about their good boy’s list of achievements.
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