Penny, the petite Maltese-poodle mix effortlessly graced the red carpet for her second New York Fashion Week recently.
She was debuting the one-of-a-kind dog model created by designer Anthony Rubio and held onto a model’s arm as she walked the runway on 9/11 at the Angel Orensanz Foundation in New York City.
Manpreet “Preety” Kaur is making a name for the 16-month-old puppy by promoting her on Instagram (@PennyLuxeLife) and landing her fashion and photography contracts. Penny models for Rifruf dog sneakers and is an ambassador for Kara Mergl Photography.
Kaur lives in Exeter Township with her family while completing medical school and a Master of Business Administration degree. She said she saw a fellow student’s dog have a litter with her neighbor’s dog and was smitten with the little fluff ball when she met Penny.
Late last year Kaur saw a casting call for Rubio’s show.
“Usually all his spots are filled, but because of the whole pandemic situation he had a casting call and I was like, ‘She’s not going to get this opportunity, but it doesn’t hurt to try anyway,'” Kaur said. .
She couldn’t believe that Penny had been chosen.
“I get the email and I jumped up and screamed, because you know living in Berks County, this is a big deal for us,” she said.
During the first fashion show in February, Kaur said there were many celebrities in attendance, including Miss Universe Harnaaz Sandhu.
“It was a great way to find work and learn more about the industry, coming from a completely different background, as a girl who was born in India from a very, very different environment,” Kaur said.
She said she was ecstatic when Penny was chosen to model for Rubio in his latest show.
“I am very proud of my New York Fashion Week presentation for Spring Summer 2023,” Rubio wrote in an email. “My collection included 20 creations for humans and 20 of my Canine Couture designs.
“For the pets, I designed in vivid bright colors with lots of glitter, each one a unique piece of art. These outfits show how much our pets brighten our days even in the worst of times. As I have said time and time again, our pets, who are mostly adopted from shelters and rescues, are role models, not accessories.”
Rubio attended the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York for womenswear and created human designs in the late 1980s to mid-1990s, his representative said.
After taking a break from the design world until 2003, he was inspired by his adopted dog Bandit to start Bandit Rubio Designs for Pets. The company’s name was changed to Anthony Rubio Designs when Bandit died in 2011. Proceeds from sales of the dog’s fashion go to various rescue organizations, a representative said.
Kaur, 32, was born in New Delhi, India and is a 2008 graduate of Exeter High School. She said that when she first came to school in the US, she had to take classes in English as a second language. Now she has no accent.
Penny has continued her education as well. She became a certified therapy dog through Pawsitive Hearts Pet Therapy and Rescue Inc. in August and visited the Hogan Learning Academy for students with autism spectrum disorders in Rockland Township and the Berks County District Attorney’s office.
She’s also learning to use the “talk” buttons, Kaur said.
“So when she wants to go out or she wants a treat, she actually pushes a button,” Kaur said. “He will talk to me.
“Now that I’m teaching him to talk, it’s actually good.”
