The full copy from my story on Menswear Dog which appeared in The Guardian and The Telegraph.

A dog with a taste for fine tailoring is the surprise breakout star of New York Fashion Week after internet photos of the stylish pup modelling outfits landed him a book deal.

The New York-based mutt, named Bodhi, was spotted wagging his tail among the fashion elite as a host of the glitzy Socialyte awards ceremony on Sunday (SEPTEMBER 8) at The Box nightclub in Manhattan.

The stylish hound became an internet hit after images of the pup modelling men’s clothing emerged on Facebook in January.

The four-year-old Shiba Inu has since been offered a book deal and has even scooped his own modelling contract with American Apparel.

Fashion’s new favourite mascot can be seen demonstrating the best way to wear a tie-bar, how to pull off a pocket square or work a chunky knit cardigan on his Tumblr blog, Menswear Dog.

Since the launch of the blog in January this year, a publisher has agreed an offer with Bodhi’s owner, David Fung, 29, to launch the blog into the mainstream.

David said: “New York Fashion Week was really fun and a whirlwind of things going on as always.

“For the awards show Bodhi wore a bespoke midnight blue shawl collar tuxedo, which my wife hand-sewed.

“We’ve just signed a book deal with publishers Workman Artisan. We’ll be working on the content shortly. It will be a men’s style manual of sorts, starring Menswear Dog.

“We’re also working on menswear-inspired fashion line for dogs. We’re really just going where this wild ride takes us.

“We don’t care if we don’t make any money, this is just a fun story to be able to tell when my wife and I are old and grey.”

Photosets on the blog include Bodhi dressed as characters played by actor Ryan Gosling in the films Drive and Only God Forgives. The dapper dog has also posed as Superman’s alter-ego Clark Kent.

David and his wife, Yena Kim, 26, are the poop scoopers behind Menswear Dog.

The couple, based in New York City, came up with the idea after watching a stop-animation film featuring animals in stylish clothing.

David Fung said: “The site was a product of idle hands and a rainy saturday afternoon.

“My wife and I had just seen Wes Anderson’s film Fantastic Mr. Fox and were inspired to quickly snap a photo of our own gorgeous fox-like dog in some of my clothes for a laugh.

“What surprised us was how photogenic and emotive Bodhi looked in photos – he was a natural, mugging for the camera, and that’s when we started to evolve the idea of Menswear Dog.”

David, a graphic designer, said Bodhi hasn’t let fame change him.

He said: “Shiba Inus are notorious for being strong-willed and independent. So fame hasn’t changed Bodhi much – he’s still very much a diva.

“He just recently discovered his fondness for fine-tailored suits. Before the site, he was a nudist.”

Yena, a fashion designer, is no stranger to big egos in front of the camera. But the couple said they have no trouble getting the pampered pooch to pose for photos.

David said: “He’s really good about doing photoshoots and they don’t take very long. We don’t shoot a look for longer than five or 10 minutes, plus he gets loads of treats from it.

“He actually looks forward to the shoots now because he knows he’s going to get a lot of attention.”

Bodhi now models for designers and clothing stores based in New York City and he has modelled for best-selling menswear magazines.

Menswear Dog has modeled for designer brands like American Apparel, Coach, Juun J, Stetson, Schott and more for the blog.

“We operate very much like any style blog, it just happens to star a dog.” said David.

“We’ve built a lot of strong relationships with brands that want to engage their fans in a different way.”

New York Fashion Week, one of the biggest events in the global fashion calendar, ended on September 12.

Also spotted by the runways this year were stars such as Justin Bieber, Rita Ora and David and Victoria Beckham.

Visit Menswear Dog here: http://mensweardog.tumblr.com/