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Mary Sciglimpaglia
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Meet The Doggie Dress Designer Whose Fashions Have Inspired So Many!

What's more fun than watching a fashion show? How about a fashion show featuring incredibly cute dogs??

That's exactly what took place recently at New York City's Historic Hotel Pennsylvania. The New York Pet Fashion Show (NYPFS) is among the world's largest animal rescue benefits, bringing fashion lovers from around the world together for a wonderful, colorful, fun-filled event featuring four unique runway shows: International Carnivale & Hat Couture, Country Western Couture, Made In The USA, and Best In Show.

Presented by TropiClean, NYPFS describes itself as "a celebration of and dedication to the couture style of our world, to rescue our animals in need and honor our planet."

This year's show benefited the Mayor's Alliance for NYC's Animals, an organization that seeks to provide quality of life and find "forever homes" for domestic animals.

In this HooplaHa Original, you'll get to meet Ada Nieves, pet fashion designer and one of the founders of the NYPFS.

Ada got her start designing costumes for animals after her husband surprised her with a pet chihuahua before he departed for a military tour abroad. Raised by seamstresses and tailors, Ada had a natural talent for clothing design—and her pup provided the perfect model! The animal fashion designer rose to international prominence after photos of Oscars-inspired dresses she created for her chihuahua went viral, and today, Ada sews animal costumes for dozens of events a year, including the Tompkins Square Halloween Dog Parade, the Algonquin Hotel Cat Fashion Show, and the Radio City Christmas Spectacular.

While her Oscars-inspired dresses go for thousands of dollars, Ada generally doesn't charge more than $500 and most of her fashion-show work is for charity. Both at the NYPFS and at other events, Ada puts great emphasis on collecting donations and raising awareness for animal rescue groups.

"Animals are part of my world and I need to know they're okay," Ada explains. "I choose to be the voice that they don't have. I choose to be active, advocate, and to help in my own way."

You'll love Ada's giving attitude, her story of how she got started in this special industry, and her commitment to helping animals lead happy and healthy lives.

This HooplaHa Original was produced and shot by Fanny Texier, and edited by Kellie Sieban. To see more inspiring news, follow us on Facebook and sign up for our Only Good News Newsletter.

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