Diamond Bodine-FischerDo you find yourself thinking, “Man, my pampered purse dog could really use a satanic black metal denim vest” as you sip your Frappuccino? Of course you do!
Fortunately for you, Southern California mega-babe Mariah Lynch launched Party Animalz. If the company name doesn’t make you giggle, check out the URL, itstimetopartyanimalz.com.
In 2011 Lynch found herself lamenting that her rescue Pomeranian didn’t own a single denim vest. So she did what any good pet parent would do, with the help of her Party Animalz co-founder Nick Hipa: She bought a denim vest for a baby human, altered it to fit her fur baby, and added tiny band patches.
A black metal pup in the sunshine; Credit: Photo courtesy of Mariah Lynch
“What seemed like a cute, fun idea for our tiny puppy suddenly became an idea for a really fun, lighthearted business,” Lynch says. “From that moment on we just thought up cute ideas and found a way for it to become a reality.”
Those other ideas include black metal and heavy metal tees, warmers and more denim vests. Lynch and her friends even came up with puppy parodies of metal bands. Slayer, Metallica, Darkthrone and Emperor become Slobber, Muttallica, Darkbone, and Empawror. They’re in touch with the bands, whom Lynch says enjoy the fur parody fashion. “The metal community may seem tough on the exterior, but really what it boils down to, like the website states, is ‘having a good time, all the time.’”
Slobber tee; Credit: Photo courtesy of Mariah Lynch
The puppy tees and warmers were pretty straightforward. Lynch ordered the blank tees and warmers through companies like American Apparel, then simply added patches and screen printing. The vests were another beast, however. Unfortunately there aren’t magic fibers that sew themselves, like G-Star and Skrillex would have you believe. She went through countless denim samples and borrowed pups from friends to take measurements and test out fittings. Finally she found a local denim company called Lazy J Jeans that was able to run the first batch of vests, but is currently looking for a second vest supplier.
We at L.A. Weekly spoil our dogs, too, and we actually tried to buy the dog vest from G-Star’s “The Art of Raw” campaign. We were informed it was not actually being produced for sale. Luckily, Party Animalz is not “display only.” And even though the vests and warmers are only produced in small and medium, the store does carry tees for larger canines. Finally, your pup has something to wear to Power of the Ruff.
This little dude's days are fueled by black metal and Starbucks.; Credit: Photo courtesy of Mariah Lynch
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