Portman & Pooch is paws-itively one of the best clothing launches of the year. Jason White shares the story behind the new dogwear brand that decorators and pet owners are going mutts about
It’s a grim day in June, but an extremely cute Yorkie called Dixie has just joined the chat between Images and Jason White, bringing some instant sunshine to the day.
It’s fitting that she and her fellow Yorkshire terrier Fou Fou are present as it’s because of them that their owner Jason founded the dogwear brand Portman & Pooch.
Thwarted in his ambition to find cute customised clothing in the UK for his ‘girls’ – “there just wasn’t anything available” – a trip to the US a couple of years ago proved to be a pivotal moment.
“I ended up in an independent little pet shop in Chicago, which was a bit like going into [the iconic toy store] FAO Schwarz in the 80s. It was just a world of wonderment with neons and leopards and camouflages and prints and a clothing area and a food area and a play area, and I thought, this is the most incredible experience.”
When he came back to the UK, Jason set about bringing the “sheer fun” of a US pet store into the customisable and decorated market. While blanks were a new market to him, his fashion background – he used to work for Topshop owner Arcadia Group as well as New Look – combined with his love of dogs made him the perfect person to establish this product category in the UK personalisation industry.
The hoodie is the brand’s bestselling style
Growing market
The global petwear market is currently estimated to be between US$5.5 billion and US$6.5 billion, reports Jason, rising to US$10 billion by 2030. “It’s driven by an underlying trend in the humanisation of pets,” he explains. “For whatever reason, millennials, couples, and Gen Zers in particular are choosing pets over kids. Pets are the new kids, plants are the new pets.”
It’s unsurprising, therefore, that when Portman & Pooch officially launched in the UK on the stand of its exclusive distribution partner, Ralawise, at Printwear & Promotion Live! in February, it was mobbed by visitors eager to find out more about its six pooch-ready styles. The initial range covers “all of the fashion shapes”, says Jason: a hoodie (already the bestseller), a T-shirt, a parka jacket, a puffer jacket, a varsity jacket, and a denim jacket.
In June, a range of football tees was also launched to tie in with the World Cup kicking off, and in October, a Christmas line will land.
Expect to see more limited period capsule drops like the football tees in response to significant events, along with more styles being added to the core collection. A utility range offering practical waterproof, cooling and reflective styles is being planned, as is a sports range (think tennis dresses for those hounds with a penchant for Wimbledon, and running gear for those barking mad for marathons), a fashion range, and even some PJs and accessories.
The fashionable Portman & Pooch denim jacket
All the Portman & Pooch styles, including the parka jacket, have been designed to be decorated
Comfort and fit
The new product development is made easier thanks to Jason’s relationship with the factory manufacturing Portman & Pooch’s products. “I’m working with one of the best petwear factories in the world. I’ve got a great relationship with them. They’re hugely agile and flexible, and they love what we’re trying to do, breaking into a market that nobody else has broken into. They’re very supportive.”
Each item has been carefully designed to be easy to decorate with a variety of methods, as well as be comfortable for the dogs wearing them. The hoodie and the T-shirt, for example, are both made from a blend of cotton and spandex. “Because there’s 5% spandex in it, it makes zero impact to the print quality, but gives the garment an amazing recovery, which helps with fit and comfort,” explains Jason.
In addition, all the garments have a reinforced eyelet loop for putting a harness lead through, poppers are used instead of zips, and adjustable, elasticated back leg straps help with fit and keeping the garment in place.
“The bulk of the sales come from smaller sized garments because people don’t really dress bigger dogs,” Jason confides. The smaller sizes fit perfectly on an infant platen, he adds, and the back leg straps can be looped over the platen’s corners, helping to hold the style in place for printing.
The global petwear market is expected to hit $10 billion by 2030
Marketing materials
Dogwear may be a relatively new category in the garment decoration market, but Portman & Pooch has developed a full suite of marketing materials to help printers and embroiderers develop this new side to the business. There are pack shots, a brochure, size guide, spec sheets and colour guides. Everything a decorator could need to launch their petwear website is there, notes Jason, along with all the sustainability credentials, safety testing, production process, maximum print areas – this list goes on.
There’s even a section containing ready-to-use print ideas, from cute sayings to dog-inspired film names via flags of the World Cup teams. It may only be two years since Jason walked into that pet shop in Chicago, but as a customer commented to him, it is “a fully fledged, off-the-shelf brand”.
“We’ve thought of everything that is required from a technical perspective for a company to take this to the market,” he says. “All the garments have been specifically designed with decoration in mind, and they are premium garments.” Pitched at a mid-level price point to reflect the level of detail involved, the recommended retail price for a decorated T-shirt starts at £10, £17 for hoodies, £25 for the varsity and denim jackets, then the puffer and parka are £29.
It’s little surprise, therefore, that the response so far has been impressive, and plans are already in place to expand its reach. Officially, it is meant to launch in Europe in September, but the garments have already been spotted in Italy and even Australia, and a US launch is planned for next year.
“The nicest compliment I think I’ve had is: ‘You’ve hit a great balance of where emotional meets commercial’ because this is an emotional purchase,” says Jason. “If you look at the consumer profiles, dog owners are generally hugely emotional people and have hugely emotional attachments to their pets and spend money on them.”
The T-shirt, when decorated, has a recommended retail price of £10
Attractive proposition
It’s currently estimated there are around 15.5 million dogs in the UK, with £11.8 billion spent on pets in total in 2024, including petfood, almost double the expenditure of ten years before.
Right now, however, there are very few customisable petwear websites in the UK. As Jason points out, this makes it a very attractive proposition to garment decorators looking to grow their business. “There’s an opportunity for people to take it to market and have a bit of a monopoly for a period of time,” he points out.
Or, to put it another way, those taking a lead now could easily establish themselves as the top dog in the sector.
