В Альбукерке пройдет благотворительный показ мод Disco Doggie, объединяющий людей и собак

FASHION | ALBUQUERQUE Shop exclusive looks and take home your new best friend at Disco Doggie charity fashion show Event benefits local animal rescue organizations What do you get when you cross disco-inspired outfits and adorable, adoptable dogs? Disco Doggie: A Charity Fashion Show, featuring fresh runway looks for both human and canine models by 10 up-and-coming New Mexico designers. The show begins at 6 p.m. Saturday, July 25, at the Albuquerque Rail Yards. There will be food vendors and a cocktail bar. “I thought it would be really fun to combine dog shows and fashion shows, because I know that New Mexico, specifically, is a state where there’s a lot of rescues and a very large community of people who care about animals,” said Cassidy Kurowski, who is co-producing the event with Cora Stidham, Gabrielle Parrulli and Renee Crocker. “It’s four local, women-owned businesses who are putting the show together,” Kurowski said. “… We formed our little dream team of, like, New Mexico women ‘Avengers,’ and started powering through the planning. It’s honestly been so amazing working with them.” Five local shelters — Pitties and Kitties, Red Dog Farm NM dba Enchantment Chihuahua Rescue, East Mountain Companion Animal Project, Wiggly Butts Foundation and A Barking Chance Animal Rescue — are providing dogs of various breeds and sizes, who will walk the runway alongside the models. “It’ll be really fun, and I feel like it’s going to be an opportunity for the designers to test their abilities … and work with a range of sizing, depending on the dog,” Kurowski said. Because the shelters have a high turnover rate, the designers won’t know the exact measurements for their dogs until closer to the show, which will require some last-minute adjustments. The dogs are also not trained models, which will add an element of unpredictability to the event. “It’ll be a fun experience for everyone, I feel like, because it’ll be like working with something that you can’t necessarily plan as easily as you can working with human models, who are a little bit more reliable in their walks and their timing and everything,” Kurowski said. Volunteers from the shelters will be on hand, just in case some of the dogs need extra help navigating the catwalk. All the pieces in the show will be available for purchase, and because most of the designers are emerging, the price points may be lower than people expect from high fashion, Kurowski said. For her own label, Fizzbam Fabrications, Kurowski said she will be presenting a line of eveningwear pieces in the $200 to $300 range, as well as doggie tutus for under $30. “We do have quite a large range of designers, in terms of exerience levels. For some of them, it’s their first show. For some, it’s probably their fourth, fifth or sixth show,” Kurowski said. “… I know a lot of the designers are doing some cool stuff for the show, so I’m sure some of the pieces will be a little pricier. But I know a lot of them also want to cater to every possible person.” Kurowski hopes New Mexicans can find one-of-a-kind pieces without breaking their budget. “The designers here know that people are struggling, but that they still want to be able to afford fashion that is fun and local and supports creative people and artists,” Kurowski said. Besides supporting pet adoption, Disco Doggie is also a sustainable fashion event. “The requirement that we gave the designers was that the materials they were using needed to be purchased from either thrifted locations (or) they needed to be dead stock fabrics (or other materials) that were on their way to trash heaps,” Kurowski said. One of the designers, Allegra Ce’Olmstead, created their first runway collection for Albuquerque’s Halloween-themed fashion party, Ghoul-A-Palooza, in October. At that event, Ce’Olmstead received a lot of praise, they said, for an outfit inspired by a frilled lizard. “I feel I’m newer to the scene, and I’m still developing where exactly I’m going to go with my work. But there’s so many people here who are secure in their style … and I just feel grateful to be part of that,” Ce’Olmstead said. “I feel like we feed each other through creating.” Ce’Olmstead was recently accepted to participate in Flying Solo, a prestigious showcase of emerging designers, at Paris Fashion Week next October. For their Disco Doggie collection, Ce’Olmstead is focusing on day-to-night transitional looks with bright neon colors. “You’re gonna make the party. That’s the vibe I’m going for in my collection,” Ce’Olmstead said. Robbie Zanotti’s collection is inspired by the colors of the Pride and trans flags. “My collection is going to be a rainbow flag, like the Pride flag. So, I’ll have every single rainbow color, and then the trans colors. I’ll have a total of eight outfits, and then I will be nine,” Zanotti said. The challenge of working sustainably with scrap fabrics has led to some innovative designs, Zanotti said. “Honestly, I have some really fun stuff. I have one outfit that’s made out of, like, 15 pairs of jeans,” Zanotti said. In addition to the human outfits, Zanotti is making outfits for three pit bulls. Ce’Olmstead and Zanotti are both dog owners and were excited to participate in an event encouraging pet adoption. Kurowski said she does not have a dog of her own — she has two cats and a guinea pig — but loves dogs. Kurowski said when it comes to stray dogs in the road, “I literally have a dog leash, a dog toy and a bag of treats in my car, just in case there are any strays. … If I see a dog running around, I will save it.” General admission tickets for Disco Doggie are $40, and 15% of all ticket sales will go to local charitable rescues and shelters. Logan Royce Beitmen is an arts writer for the Albuquerque Journal. He covers visual art, music, fashion, theater and more. Reach him at [email protected] or on Instagram at @loganroycebeitmen.