Fashion For Paws Barks Up The Right Tree! Raises $500,000+ For Washington Humane Society…

Fresh from the success of the 2011 Fashion for Paws Runway Show, Executive Director Tara de Nicolas pauses between media interviews to survey the surrounding afterparty receptions from the catwalk.

Be sure to check out all 309 of our photographs from this event HERE!

The Guest List:

Runway show photographs from this event can be found HERE!

NORTHWEST -- There’s actually not much more to be said about this year’s Fashion for Paws Runway Show that we haven’t already told you.

Since the 2011 benefit was first announced, the Washington Humane Society’s most popular fundraising program has taken the District by storm, with contending models conducting over a hundred different fundraisers – some small; some large – over the last three months.

And all of that hard work came to fruition on Saturday night, as the National Building Museum’s cavernous atrium was transformed into a glitzy catwalk and party space.



Entertainment Tonight correspondent and “Fashion Guy” Lawrence Zarian had jetted in from the West Coast to serve as the evening’s honorary host and the sold-out party was easily in full swing by 7:30 p.m.


“Top Dog” sponsor, vitaminwater zero, hosted a special preview of its Flavors of Fashion couture collection during the opening reception, which featured five pieces created by Los Angeles designer Clay Sadler and were inspired by the various flavors of the beverage.


From the onset, this year’s fundraising goal – a staggering $490,000 – seemed impossible to meet. However, Executive Director Tara de Nicolas, Event Co-Chairs Amanda Polk and Dr. Dondi Dahlgaard, Mistress of Ceremonies Pamela Sorensen, Committee Fundraising Chair Windy Shepard, and Committee Co-Chairs Tommy McFLY and Wendy Gordon more than rose to the occasion, not only meeting the goal, but surpassing it by more than $10,000 $30,000.

Support from a handful of “VVIPs”, such as MicroStrategy founder Michael J. Saylor (pictured center), allowed Fashion for Paws to exceed its fundraising goal for 2011.
Indeed, the event’s organizers were only overshadowed by the runway models themselves, each of whom raised a minimum of $3,000 and many much, much more (the World Bank’s Sara Trab Nielsen was this year’s top fundraiser with a final total of $20,994).



A much grander affair than in years past, the 2011 runway show featured more than 65 models wearing outfits from a dozen or so different Tysons Galleria retailers, in an amazing event that lasted close to an hour in and of itself.

And fashion show producer and musical host, Aba Kwawu and Seyhan Duru, respectively, managed to pull it off flawlessly despite the occasional “off-script” moment prompted by some of the night’s (also clothed) four-legged guests!

CNN White House Correspondent Brianna Keilar was among the models who walked Saturday’s catwalk benefiting the Washington Humane Society.
Two-legged and four-legged models alike wore designer outfits.
Congratulations to the entire Fashion for Paws team for raising the bar yet again on what was already called Washington’s top fashion event of the year!

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To learn more about the Washington Humane Society’s Fashion for Paws program or to make a donation, please visit the organization's website.

Be sure to check out all 309 of our photographs from this event HERE!