Adoptable dogs from Monterey County SPCA have a runway moment with partners of IMSA drivers.

“Don’t make me feed you to one of the models,” Stanley Tucci infamously told Anne Hathaway in the 2006 film The Devil Wears Prada. Fortunately, the four-legged models at Wags on the Runway fashion show event, presented by IMSA today, April 30 at Estéban Restaurant at Casa Munras Garden Hotel & Spa in Monterey, appeared to be well-fed, but were also interested in more treats from two-legged models sporting couture by Carmel-based women’s boutique Pamplemousse.

Sloan Campi here, excited to see Tucci and Hathaway star in their glamorous sequel opening tomorrow, May 1, but also thrilled to have witnessed a first-ever fashion show featuring female partners of the drivers who will be racing in the Stubhub Monterey Sportscar Championship at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca from May 1-3. But the models who stole the show were the dogs up for adoption from SPCA of Monterey County. 

National sports broadcaster Ralph Sheheen took the stage to announce the event, beginning with remarks of being neighborly. For WeatherTech Raceway at Laguna Seca, its closest neighbor is across the street where the dogs are currently looking for their forever homes. 

“This event is a special way to kick off the Monterey Sportscar Championship,” says Mel Harder, president and general manager of Laguna Seca, promising an action-packed weekend and season.

For Lauren Merrill, owner of Pamplemousse in Carmel who supplied the dresses for the two-legged models, the weekend is a family affair, since her son Thomas will be competing with an Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT4 Evo in the event. 

“It’s really a fun partnership,” Merrill says. “Racing is in our blood. And so is fashion.”

Taking cues from Tucci, I was admittedly more interested in the fashion component than the racing one. But my colleague Dave Faries, who covered Wayne Taylor Racing’s entourage to support seven cars during the event in this week’s issue of the Weekly, was able to point out the who’s who in the world of four wheels. 

One of them is Will Bamber, who is once again facing Nick Persing in a Lamborghini Super Trofeo this weekend. But Bamber says the real spectacle was seeing his wife of three years, Sarah, walk down the runway. 

“I was smiling the whole time,” Bamber says.

Sarah Bamber closed out the event sporting a hot pink Millie midi dress. She, too, smiled after her first-ever fashion show experience: “I loved representing the wife of a driver and also doing it for the SPCA.” 

Sarah walked 3-year-old pit mix Bruce, who was able to shake her hand like a true gentleman. Earlier she walked down the runway with Cole—a cattledog mix who was very interested in the spotlight—while sporting a light blue shimmering dress adorned with a Chan Luu labradorite cluster necklace and a Janessa Leoné straw hat.

Before all the models gathered on stage for one final photo opportunity with their canine companions, Scott Delucchi, president and CEO of Monterey County SPCA, got up to thank everyone and remind them of the mission of SPCA. 

“Some of the dogs have come to us as strays and some have come because their owners can no longer care for them, and there are lots of different reasons for that,” he said, going on to remark how beautiful the couture was. 

The dogs seemed to prefer the dresses with pockets, though—perfect for holding treats.