Haute Dogs

Stylish pups and their fashionable friends will join forces at the annual Le Chien show to support Animal Samaritans. Donors will strut the catwalk with rescue and shelter dogs to raise funds; then, models wearing chic fashions from San Francisco designer Victor Tung will take their turn, also with four-legged companions.

“Animal Samaritans is excited to partner with Fashion Week El Paseo for the first time,” says the nonprofit’s CEO, Tom Snyder. “We appreciate the exposure to new animal lovers and the partnership with such a well-established event.”

Dogs will model au naturel, Snyder says. “It’s less about clothing animals than protecting, saving, rescuing, and adopting out homeless animals. So the animals can be in their natural clothing — in their fur — and the humans can dress up in the designer wear.”

Tung, a street artist, couturier, and animal lover, first showed a collection of his one-of-a-kind, wearable art at Fashion Week El Paseo in 2013.

Proceeds from the event will help fund Animal Samaritans’ no-kill shelter and adoption center, along with its rescue program, which finds safe havens for the Coachella Valley’s at-risk dogs and cats in the public shelter.

PHOTOGRAPH BY ED JAY PHOTOGRAPHY