During New York Fashion Week, local designer Anthony Rubio is having dogs center stage for his runway show.
Occurring at Feb. 12, dogs –rescues and celeb pups — will be strutting down the catwalk with models in tow.
In its fifth year, Rubio — a designer of both women’s wear and dog apparel – thinks pups being part of Fashion Week is par for the course.
“In my world the humans are the accessories,” Rubio tells This Dog’s Life. “Dogs are no longer pets, they are family members. It shouldn’t be strange to people that we dress-up our dogs.”
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This year’s theme is “Night Flowers” and will feature romantic evening wear inspired by the beautiful colors of flowers.
“I chose to infuse jewel toned colors in the form of embroidery and my own hand made flowers set against dark backgrounds,” he says.
As for what dogs will strutting their stuff, Rubio hired a casting agent to ensure there is a wide selection of breeds. Some Instagram dogs walking the catwalk include, a Corgi from California (@WinstonTheWhiteCorgi), Alaskan Klee Kai (Lady Como of @ComoAndTheCity), a Frenchie (@OscarFrenchieNYC), a blue-nose pit bull (@SometimesCarl) and of course Rubio’s two Chihuahuas (@BogieAndKimba).
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Rubio also always teams up with rescues, and this year he decided to spotlight both senior dogs and those abandoned in Puerto Rico.
“Around Christmas time I saw an article on senior dogs, that the amount of senior dogs being surrendered at animal shelters has gone up in the last few years,” Rubio says. ” I wanted to put a spotlight on how special they are.” As far as the focus on Puerto Rico, Rubio was raised in New York City but is of Puerto Rican ancestry. “Abandoned dogs is still an issue in Puerto Rico.”
The event is invite-only but will be streamed for everyone to see. Check out Rubio’s website for updates on the streaming platform.
Besides his fashion show, Rubio has some other things up his sleeve this year. In mid-February, he will be on a prime time show on ABC with Anthony Anderson, This year, he will also be in a film, working on a book and creating a ready-to-wear canine fashion line.
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