By Carol Blair Vaughn

American mega-corporation TARGET has always had its bull terrier mascot named “Bullseye”, but now the upscale footwear brand Jimmy Choo has a rival bull terrier, named – wait for it – Jimmy Choo.

Jimmy Choo (The Dog) belongs to Brazilian photographer and artist Rafael Mantesso, and Mantesso and the dog have a new book coming out in October titled “A Dog named Jimmy”, which portrays the 5-year old dog in all sorts of silly situations and get-ups. The situations are often completed by thought bubbles (in English), and are all the manifestation of Mantesso’s creative imagination.

The back story of this dynamic duo began under very sad circumstances. On Mantesso’s 30^th birthday, his wife walked out on him, taking all the furniture, cookware, photos, and decorations – but leaving the all-white bull terrier Jimmy Choo, named after her favorite shoe designer. The dog and man clunked around their empty, stark white apartment in grief, until Mantesso began to entertain himself by staging Jimmy Choo in whimsical situations which he created directly on his canvas of white walls and floors, using magic markers, and a few props. Then he photographed it.

Mantesso says, “My wife left me with nothing but a dog, so I started this fun photo series.”

Photos of Jimmy Choo appeared on Instagram (he now has 310,000 fans), including actor Ashton Kutcher, who sent the dog’s photo out to all of his fans and made the pup famous overnight. Choo also has over 15,000 Facebook followers, and a strong following on Twitter.

Soon the dog attracted the attention of the Jimmy Choo brand’s Creative Director, Sandra Choi, who lured Mantesso into creating new drawings for a limited edition line of purses and other designer items. The Today show and other media outlets have covered the duo and their new found fame.

When asked how Jimmy Choo is as a model, Mantesso says the dog is more than happy to be posed for all this silliness, because the dog loves being the center of his owner’s attention. Mantesso always covers Jimmy Choo’s man parts in embarrassing poses, and often gives him Groucho Marx stick-on eyebrows to give his white face more definition. Bull terriers have a reputation of being “difficult” dogs, but Jimmy seems to be angelic, and very obedient always.

Mantesso says photographing Jimmy has helped him recover from his divorce completely. Jimmy Choo is an overnight sensation, and Mantesso now lists his profession as “Jimmy Choo’s Owner.”

To see more on Mantesso and his puppy, go to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lrkXs9kBVec . The book, A Dog Named Jimmy is available now through Amazon.

About the Author

Carol Blair Vaughn holds a Master’s Degree in Performing Arts and is a retired professor from Washington, D.C. She inherited her love for Latin America from her father, the former U.S. Ambassador
to Colombia, Panama, and Director of the Peace Corps, Jack Vaughn. Carol writes for the Association of Residents of Costa Rica (ARCR) and for an English language club in the southern region of Costa Rica. In the past, Carol served as Editor in Chief of What’s on Tap magazine.