An Interview With Wag & Wool - Luxury Dog Jumpers

We at Aurora Pets are welcoming the New Year with the beautiful new brand Wag & Wool!

Wag & Wool is a stylish, luxury dog brand that offers not only your furry best friend products but you too! Usually when you hear matching with your dog it means matching jumpers but this brand has moved on from this concept and are offering accessories to match your dog instead. With your dog wrapped up and cosy in their dog jumper you can match with a scarf or headband depending on the design you choose.

In this blog we get to know the dynamic duo Rachael and Toni and their journey in creating such a stylish and impressive collection of dog jumpers and dog owner accessories.

Where did the concept for Wag & Wool come from?

I have been a knitwear designer and teacher for 19 years, I have mostly worked in design studios but have more recently been teaching at The University of Brighton and The London College of Fashion. Alongside this, designing and knitting in my studio space.

The idea for WAG&WOOL came about when I was designing and making scarves and other knitted products for my original knitwear business.
I divide my time with teaching and working in the studio with a collective of other creatives.

The original idea for WAG&WOOL came about when we were having a studio Christmas fair. I was thinking of designs and products for this when my best friend and her dog Monti came to meet me one day after work. It was a very cold day in the studio so we wrapped Monti in one of the scarves I had knitted. Then it came to me that I should design and knit a matching dog jumper to go with the scarf!

After Christmas, it was still a germ of an idea, but when Covid hit us all in March 2020, I was unable to teach knitting workshops which in turn gave me the much needed time to research, design and make prototypes for the creation of WAG&WOOL.

How do you test your products?

I test the products with the initial samples and prototypes, making sure that comfort, fit and durability is of premium quality. I give the samples to friends, family and colleagues to test the shapes, sizes and comfort. There's usually some tweaking to do on sizing so 2 - 3 samples will be made, fitted and adjusted before getting the perfect mix.

How important is it to you to create well-made products?

Having worked with the best in the knitwear industry as a designer it is of the utmost importance to me that all of our products are made just as well as any quality human jumper or sweater. Our furry friends are unable to tell us if something is itchy, scratchy, or uncomfortable to wear so I believe we should be even more aware of the yarn chosen, the fit and comfort.

Where did your brand name come from?

The name WAG&WOOL was one of the last decisions that we made and it came about whilst thinking about the brand and our entire ethos. We wanted something that embodied what we wanted to achieve. With 'wool' being such a fantastic renewable fabric and at the heart of what we are doing we felt like it should be included in the title. I was actually sitting in traffic on the M25 when it popped into my head, from then on it stuck and soon after the brand was born along with the logo.

Are Wag & Wool products sustainable?

This is at the heart of the WAG&WOOL design ethos and inspiration. In the fashion world for us humans it is slowly starting to resonate that we simply cannot continue to pollute the world with fast fashion and throw away cheap products that go straight to landfill and won't biodegrade.

What are your products made from?

All of our dog jumpers, matching human scarves and headbands are made of 100% lambswool. We use Z Hinchcliffe yarn which has a lineage of over 150 years. The yarns are 100% traceable and spun and dyed in Yorkshire. The sheep are in no way harmed when being sheared for the wool which is my number 1 top priority when choosing a yarn to work with.

Along with this you will find that the yarn is super soft and non irritable unlike wool's of a different era. Our labels are made from recyclable cotton and we also use recycled packaging.

What was your first product in your collection?

The first design for WAG&WOOL was the Monti dog jumper and matching scarf. I came from the viewpoint of designing something I would wear long term and that would work with different coats and outfits. Something classic and stylish that can be worn year in, year out.

How would you describe Wag & Wool in three words?

Style, Sustainability, Quality.

We hope that you have enjoyed getting to know one of our brands at Aurora Pets! You can see their collection now on our website by clicking this link - Wag & Wool.