On a Tuesday morning in early August, designer Willy Chavarria and his partner, David Ramirez, a former jewelry executive, are mid-negotiation with Chester, their terrier-mix rescue, who was hiding under the dining table as photographer Diego Bendezu, a Chavarria favorite, took some test shots in the living area of the couple’s Tribeca loft. Chester is quiet, chill, and deceivingly timid. Unlike the many models, celebrities, and Dogues who have jumped and barked at the idea of a Vogue photo shoot, he seemed unconvinced. It’s not that he is particularly people-averse; he sits front row at Chavarria’s runway shows and does not shy away from that spotlight. But this—a bunch of humans pointing cameras and lights at him, in his home —clearly needed some convincing.

“I’m the caretaker; Wi

See Full Page