On the "Cat" walk

Getting my feet wet in this pet product business has been quite a trip . Exposure is great in the right places and so far, my two practice runs--the barking beauty pageant and the FIT fashion show--have been eye openers as to what to expect and what not to expect. The show was actually a graded project for the Event Planning coarse at FIT. The kids did a good job for a herculean task and earned the high marks I'm sure they'll get.
I submitted three pieces by the submission deadline of April 1st and then the deadline was pushed back to the 15th because there weren't enough garments to show, so I submitted one more. I was surprised and somewhat disappointed that of the four pieces I submitted the only one used on the runway was the Sorbet Valentine, which looked beautiful on Zoe, Margaret's adorable miniature poodle and drew oohs and ahs from the crowd. Another disappointment was that we were told garments not used on the runway would be displayed on tables and there would be dog bowls for the designers to put their business cards in. There were no bowls and the displays were so haphazardly arranged that it was difficult to determine what cards went with what display.
All in all, the reaction to my designs was overwhelming and people (though not the "press" that was supposed to be present) praised them and genuinely wanted to know more about their availability.
So now it's back to work adding new styles and upgrading the business plan so I can take advantage of my minority status (woman entrepreneur) and those mighty Obama bucks, and acquire funding to get this real show on the road. Proof is in the pudding and judging by the reaction I've been getting, this is a very saleable product. Sorry we didn't bring the professional camera for Jeff to video the runway, but here's the gist of it using our little digital.