If you want your four-legged companion ready to walk the red carpet or show off at a ball, you really need to enlist the services of Kevin Ugarte to have your pets looking stunning.
The Philadelphia-based fashion designer said he got into designing clothes for pets when he became a pet owner himself.
“I was given a pet and I went to the market trying to find some clothes to fit my pet,” he said. “I couldn’t find anything up to the standards I was looking for so I starting buying fabric and creating designs for her. When I started walking my dog and taking her places with the outfits I designed for her, people started asking questions. Where did I get them? Where did I buy them? It started inspiring me to make them and start selling them.”
If you are looking for practical everyday fashions, you might want to stick to Petsmart because Ugarte likes to go high style with his designs.
“All of my designs are based on dresses and gowns,” he said. “My inspiration comes from famous designers but most of [my designs] are from my own creation. It’s all a part of my imagination and then I just tweak them a little bit sometimes with human designs.”
Vests and sweaters, especially when used for warmth during the colder months, are one thing. But we had to ask if pets really enjoy being dressed to the nines in elaborate couture.
“I believe so,” Ugarte said. “Just like humans, sometimes they like dress up and sometime they don’t. I’ve seen pets try to bite their owners when they try to take their clothes off.”
Ugarte said he normally designs clothes for small dogs, but if you have larger pets you want to make over, he’ll happily get them presentable for you.
“If you bring a picture and a clear idea of what you want, I can customize it for you,” he said. “My designs are targeted towards small dogs because most of the people only like to dress up their small dogs. But when any customer wants a design for their bigger dogs, that’s what I do. But my number-one market is my small dogs.”
Kevin Ugarte’s clothing will be featured in the New York Pet Fashion Show on Feb. 12. For more information on Ugarte’s fashions, visit www.facebook.com/kevin.ugarte.39.