Hey, Quick Question: Could Fashion Convince You to Adopt an Adorable Rescue Pet This Holiday?

A slew of New York-based brands are betting on it, partnering with local shelters for adoption events and even lookbooks.

Welcome to our column, "Hey, Quick Question," where we investigate seemingly random happenings in the fashion and beauty industries. Enjoy!

The holiday season is a time for many things, like Mariah Carey, cookie-cutter rom-coms and, obviously, actual cookies. It's also the time for giving, be it via volunteering your time at a nearby food bank or donating funds to an organization that's close to your heart. (Presents are also, theoretically, a way to show gratitude for your closest family and friends, and we have plenty of recommendations for those!) To give is to receive, and this holiday, fashion appears to be hopping on board in the name of one particular, furry cause. 

In recent weeks, a number of New York-based labels have partnered with local animal rescue organizations to help sheltered dogs and cats find their forever-homes. While rescue groups do a commendable job of placing shelter animals with new, loving owners, kill shelters are a real problem here in the U.S.: Approximately 7.6 million pets — 3.9 million dogs and 3.4 million cats — enter animal shelters nationwide each year, according to the Humane Society; of those 7.6 million pets, roughly 2.7 million animals — 1.2 million dogs and 1.4 million cats — are euthanized. Rescue organizations help to cut down those numbers, turning animals who were once unwanted pets into beloved companions. But they can't do it alone.

For its Pre-Fall 2019 lookbook, Monse partnered with six animal shelters in the Tri-State Area — Animal Haven Shelter, Best Friends Animal Society, Bideawee, Rescue City, Rescue Dogs Rock and Social Tees Animal Rescue — to promote the fostering and adoption of dogs. The images feature models Lameka Fox, Cat McNeil and McKenna Hellam alongside 30-plus dogs from local shelters, all of whom are in need of adoption.   

While Monse has already donated to all participating shelters, a selection of pieces from the Pre-Fall 2019 collection (for both humans and dogs!) are available for immediate purchase on Monse.com; 100 percent of proceeds from the sales of this charitable capsule will be distributed among the aforementioned six shelters. 

Rachel Antonoff, herself a staunch #AdoptDontShop advocate, also joined forces with handbag designer Susan Alexandra for a three-day holiday shopping and rescue event benefiting Animal Haven Shelter, a nonprofit organization founded in 1967 that finds homes for abandoned dogs and cats throughout the New York City area. (It also provides behavior intervention, when needed, to improve the animal's likelihood of adoption.) The holiday shop took place in Animal Haven's Chinatown location and featured pieces from Sandy Liang, HVN and Mari Guidicelli, as well as from Antonoff and Alexandra themselves. A portion of proceeds from the event were donated directly to Animal Haven. 

Antonoff has offered to cover adoption fees for anyone who adopts the beautiful Delilah, a four-year-old terrier mix who came to Animal Haven from Puerto Rico last year before Hurricane Maria. In addition, she designed a now-sold-out "Adopt, Don't Shop" graphic tee, featuring original artwork by artist Charlotte Minnett. A percentage of its sales benefit Animal Haven. 

Lower East Side boutique Assembly New York has a relationship with Animal Haven as well, teaming up with the shelter to share postings for the shelter's dogs and cats. (You can view all currently available animals at Animal Haven here.)

Fashion — particularly here in New York — is putting in the work to convince you to adopt an adorable rescue pet, just in time for the holidays. And while the aforementioned brands, designers and retailers are helping to facilitate these adoptions, there are more ways for you to get involved on your own, either by donating funds to assist with these organizations' day-to-day operations or by taking home a fuzzy best friend of your own. To that end, we've listed a number of New York City-area rescue organizations below. 

Animal Care Centers of NYC
Animal Haven Shelter
Badass Brooklyn Animal Rescue
Bideawee
Brooklyn Animal Resource Coalition
City Critters
The Humane Society of New York
Little Shelter Animal Rescue & Adoption Center
Rescue City
Rescue Dogs Rock
Second Chance Rescue
See Spot Rescued
Social Tees Animal Rescue 

For a roster of national and city-specific rescue groups, visit the Best Friends Animal Society or the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals for more.

Click through the gallery below to see all the looks — and available, adoptable dogs — from Monse's Pre-Fall 2019 lookbook.

View the 35 images of this gallery on the original article

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