Adoptable pups, playful prints, and a star-studded lineup of models: This NYFW, Rachel Antonoff and Susan Alexandra turned St. Ann’s Warehouse into the most fashionable dog show imaginable.
Backstage at Best in Show, photographed by Jenny Sharaf
New York Fashion Week is long. Six days of backstage adrenaline, anxiety-producing traffic, seasonal reunions, beauty inspo, street style, and hundreds of mouth-watering looks from designers both established and new, it’s overwhelmingly difficult to determine a favourite show. Yet as we near the end of the schedule, there’s one event that has proven itself to be the winner of the unofficial ‘Most Difficult to Get Out of My Head’ category. After all, not every show casts dogs to walk the runway or offers guests the chance to adopt its models (the puppies, not the star-studded lineup of their human handlers).
Backstage at the Rachel Antonoff and Susan Alexandra Best in Show presentation, it would have been easy to become starstruck. A cast of beloved New Yorkers and recognisable faces sitting in makeup chairs, from Tavi Gevinson to Micaela Diamond, and famous friends and family-of-the-brand arriving early to show support should have made me lose my cool at least a little bit. But, unfortunately, the people were upstaged by the plethora of adoptable dogs in line for “styling” — ready to make their big runway debut.
As designers, the two visionaries share a similar knack for bringing joy to fashion. Colour palette excellency, tongue-in-cheek phrases, and bold, recognisable pieces have come to define the DNA of both labels — Susan Alexandra for her beaded accessories and Rachel Antonoff for her playful prints. But if you know the designers, or follow them on social media, you’ll know they also hold common advocacy goals for animal rescue initiatives — and, hand-in-hand, often feature their own rescued dogs as brand models. Though, this season, Lafitte Antonoff and Pigeon Alexandra take a seat to let some adoptable pups shine in the spotlight.
“Susan and I have been friends forever. We both love dogs. We both have elderly rescue dogs of our own, and we’re super passionate about getting dogs adopted,” Antonoff tells Wonderland backstage. “We kind of just had the same idea at the same time and thought, ‘there’s no one I would rather do this with than you’ about each other.”
Coming together to create what can be described as either the most fashionable dog show or the most dog-centric fashion show to date, the two designers partnered with Animal Haven and Muddy Paws Rescue to simultaneously show their latest collection and find some dogs their forever homes. Hosted by comedians Jacqueline Novak and Kate Berlant, with writer-producer Bridget Everett serving as the judge of all things tail-wagging and treat-accepting, the event saw Bachelorette Gabby Windey, Natalie Morales, Maitreyi Ramakrishnan, Sandra Bernhard, and more walk (or, many times, carry) the likes of Peachy, Lunchbox, and Moogli in beaded leashes, cowboy hats, and the cutest sweaters. On the (human) models, Antonoff’s velvet jumpsuits and puffers paired with platform crocs were equally as obsessing-worthy — and luckily for those of us with no patience, the designer operates on a ‘see now, buy now’ model.
Speaking on the astounding lineup of dog-walkers, Antonoff tells me that in another life, she “was meant to be a casting director”: “I just had so much fun, thinking of what would be the coolest, weirdest crew. And I mean, I cannot believe who we got here.”
The vibrant energy and sense of community was mirrored in the front row, where the likes of Paramore’s Hayley Williams and Jack Antonoff swapped Grammy’s for Honourable Mention ribbons, celebrating with a contagious familial pride. “My best friend Brian [O’Connor], who does my hair and makeup on the road — we own a hair dye company and salon together — keyed the show. All the hair you’ll see is Good Dye Young and Fruits Hair Lab,” Williams gushes. “So high stakes today. I’m very excited. I’m very nervous. I’m so proud of my best friend-” She gets interrupted by the younger Antonoff. “And there’s another one of my friends, Jack.”
For the producer and Bleachers frontman, he was celebrating his sister’s collection and his parents’ runway walk — which has become a Rachel Antonoff staple. In terms of his expectations for the dogs? “I actually hope all the dogs get through it okay,” he tells us. “Hayley’s taking home ‘Best in Show.’ You heard it first. All the way back to Tennessee.”
So who won? Dylan Mulvaney’s Elmer, a bull dog whose tongue permanently hangs proudly out of his mouth. We’re still waiting for Williams to confirm the adoption.
Backstage photography by Jenny Sharaf for Wonderland Magazine.
