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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; Willy is definitely his master,” Ramirez says. “The night we adopted him, I had to fill out the paperwork while Willy held him in the car. And I also drove, so he sat with him on the ride back,” he recalls. “Since then, Willy has been his master; they’re very close. But Chester knows I’m his caretaker. I do everything for him.”
“Well, not everything,” Chavarria interjects, “I help too!”
The roles were established early. Rewind to 2021…. Picture it: It’s winter early that year—pandemic restrictions and all—and Chavarria and Ramirez are driving from their then home in Copenhagen to the outskirts of the city. They reach their remote farmland destination at around 1 a.m. along with 49 other families, all with a shared purpose: adopting a pup.
Chesterfield Ramirez-Chavarria—Chester, for those close to him—entered the designer’s life after he and Ramirez spotted a photo of the black-and-chestnut terrier mix in an ad from a rescue dog agency. “It was tiny,” Chavarria remembers of the photo. “And you weren’t really into it,” adds Ramirez. “Wasn’t I?” questions Chavarria, then answers, “Maybe I wasn’t. You just couldn’t really see him.”
Initially, Ramirez recalls, he and Chavarria had inquired about adopting Chester—who was rescued by the agency in question from Portugal and then driven to Denmark, where he met his forever family—however, he had already been claimed. (A popular Dogue, this one.) Fortunately for the Ramirez-Chavarria household, that adoption fell through, and Ramirez received a phone call. It was meant to be. Chester is the second Dogue to be a part of the Ramirez-Chavarria family. His would-be sibling died a few months prior to Chester’s arrival.
A few weeks after adopting Chester, Chavarria moved back to New York City to start a role as senior vice president of design for menswear at Calvin Klein, a job he left in 2024. That left Chester alone with Ramirez in Denmark. “He didn’t like me at first,” Ramirez laughs, “but he warmed up to me.” An understatement. When Ramirez calls Chester to come out from under the table and join him in the living area, this cover Dogue jumps above and across the couch—picture Gisele Bündchen leaping for Steven Meisel in the pages of Vogue—to join his dad. Add some of Chester’s favorite snacks (chicken feet and fish skin—a gourmet Dogue!) and the camera started flashing. Chester, unsurprisingly, is a natural.
I have interviewed Chavarria in many contexts: On camera at his Greenpoint studio, for Vogue’s The Run-Through podcast at our offices, and even in Spanish for the June 2024 issue of Vogue Mexico Latin America. Yet somehow one topic has always eluded us: Chester. Not anymore. Read on as Chavarria, Ramirez, and the hound himself answer Vogue’s Dogue questionnaire.
Vogue: What is Chester’s best quality?
Ramirez: Definitely his independence.
Chavarria: I like his sixth toe. He has an extra one in every paw.
Who would voice Chester in a movie?
Ramirez: Hm, I would say Bradley Cooper, or maybe Ryan Gosling. He’s handsome like that.
Describe the voice you use to talk to Chester.
Ramirez: I use more of a bro voice—like, hey bro, hey bud.
Chavarria: Oh, I do that, the baby voice.
What is Chester’s weirdest nickname?
Ramirez: I’m not sure if they’re very weird, but they’re all variations of Chester. So Chesternut, Chestnut.
What is one place you wish you could take him?
Chavarria: Anywhere with grass in New York City, since he’s not allowed. [Laughs.]
What is the strangest place you’ve taken him?
Chavarria: Honestly, he goes with us everywhere, even when we think they won’t let him in we still take him, and they do.
Ramirez: I would say maybe a fashion show? He’s at every one of Willy’s shows. Maybe it would be the rehearsal at the first Paris show [in January of 2025]. He was sitting watching while J Balvin was rehearsing. I would say that’s pretty strange for a dog, right?
What is one thing you wish you could tell him?
Ramirez: I feel like he understands everything. He’s fluent in us.
Chavarria: He even knows things that we don’t.
What is the most human thing that Chester does?
Chavarria: Hide from other humans. [Laughs.]
And what is the most dog thing that he does?
Ramirez: He loves everything that’s gross. He will run around and rub against things that are decomposing at the park. He’s gotten three baths this week already.
Chester, what is your full name?
Chesterfield Ramirez-Chavarria
Astrological sign?
Chavarria: I’m going to guess Leo or Taurus.
Ramirez: [Checking Chester’s passport.] He’s an Aries.
Chavarria: This [his phone] says that Aries dogs are known to be confident as well as courageous and thrive on being the boss. That these dogs love attention and are extremely competitive.
Ramirez: Sounds about right. [Laughs.]
Favorite toy?
Ramirez: For inside, he loves this cat [tiger plushie]. He goes through one each month. For outside, same with the Frisbees—he just chews them up.
Favorite meal?
Chavarria: Whatever we’re having.
Ramirez: He loves breakfast. He has kibble and then lots of snacks throughout the day.
Worst habit?
Ramirez: We were lucky that when we adopted him, he was already house-trained. He’s never had an accident. [Knocks on wood.]
Chavarria: He has this thing where he doesn’t always come when you call him. Sometimes he just stares at you.
Strangest habit?
Ramirez: He likes to…
Chavarria: Actually, maybe don’t tell Vogue that.
Makeup artist for Willy David: Mitch Yoshida
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