Canines step out in style for their own fashion week in US

NEW YORK - Top designers and their canine friends walked the catwalk at a Fashion’s Night Out event hosted by retail giant Bergdorf Goodman.

“It’s like a giant fashion party,” the New York Daily News quoted Nancy Chinchar, owner of Downtown Doghouse in Chelsea, as saying.

The popular supply and grooming shop, located on W. 18th St., was the first pet boutique chosen among the 1,000 retailers to take part in this year’s Fashion’s Night Out.

“It’s a celebration of life,” said Ada Nieves, local pet clothing designer extraordinaire, whose hand-stitched outfits grace magazine covers and television shows around the world.

Her own fall line this year features the ubiquitous animal print, the “Guayabera” latin shirt for dogs and dresses stitched in a ’50s-style red-and-white polka dot fabric.

While doggie styles tend to lag a year behind human styles, this year’s Retro style is hot for all.

And while neutral is the big color, “almost every dog has a black T-shirt,” Nieves said.

Also hot this year are ruffles for “girly girls” and hoodies with Ed Hardy-style tattoo designs or silly messages, like “Bad to the Bones” and “My Mom is a Cougar in Training,” for boys, Nieves added. (ANI)