NYFW: Gauntlett Cheng Let Their Catwalk Go To The Dogs

Gauntlett Cheng really took the whole "dog is god spelled backwards" idea to heart this season with a canine-friendly runway show in the famous St. Mark's Church-In-The-Bowery. As the doors opened and a fashionable, young crowd of people-you've-seen-on-Instagram filed in, an electric anticipation filled the beautiful, daunting church--a return to the space where design duo Esther Gauntlett and Jenny Cheng showed their first collection.

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As the music began, it quickly became clear that this season's trend of unique runway accessories and Year of the Dog motifs had met their match. Alongside models in "adult baby" garments that looked to be inspired in part by Swiss cheese, four legged dogs made their runway debuts in matching garments. It was a Westminster Dog Show for the Instagram generation.

The designer's unique brand of humor seeped into every detail of their Happy & Healthy collection, culminating in a must-have puffer jacket with sleepy and intoxicated suns, moons, and puppies plastered across it. It wasn't just a homecoming in location, either. Among models that included DeSe Escobar and Kai Kuhne were the mothers of designer Esther Gauntlett and stylist Kyle Luu.

As the models stood on the platform at the front of the church with their canine companions, the crowd laughed, smiled, and lapped up the underground designer's oddest collection yet.

Photography: Ben Bibriesca