Janie and Jack goes to the dogs for autumn

The childrenswear label looks to the English countryside for a new season of houndstooth, riding boots, heritage checks and a cast of four legged companions.

Dogs are having something of a fashion moment. They have moved beyond the occasional novelty print to become increasingly visible companions in campaigns, editorials and the broader visual world surrounding fashion.

For autumn, Janie and Jack has decided to make them part of the wardrobe itself.

The American childrenswear label’s latest collection looks towards the English countryside, combining the dogs that belong to that world with equestrian references, traditional checks, textured knitwear and the sort of tailoring more commonly associated with a country weekend than the playground.

It is particularly well suited to Janie and Jack. The company describes itself as a design house built around giving children individual style, with collections that place modern interpretations on classic fashion. Its signatures include distinctive prints, embroidery, considered detailing and fabrics intended to last beyond a single occasion.

The autumn collection takes those principles into recognisably British territory.

The country wardrobe, scaled down

There is houndstooth, gingham, corduroy and plaid. Riding boots and equestrian details sit alongside cable knits and structured jackets. Dogs, meanwhile, appear across sweatshirts, T shirts, dungarees, socks and knitwear.

The result is less about putting a cartoon dog on a jumper than building an entire seasonal world around the idea of getting dressed for the countryside.

The current UK collection includes the Dog Friends Sweatshirt at £50 and Dog Friends Tee at £40, while the £75 Pawfect Jumper pushes the canine theme further into knitwear. For babies, there are £70 Gingham Dog Dungarees, a £95 Dog Striped Matching Set and a two pack of dog socks for £15.

Around them sits the rest of the country wardrobe. The Countryside Jumper is £90, a Bridle Bit Corduroy Dress £89 and Classic Riding Boots £104. Plaid pleated dresses and skirts, textured polos, cable knit cardigans and twill tailoring complete a collection that borrows the codes of traditional country dressing without making children look as though they have been dressed for a period drama.

That distinction matters. Heritage dressing has returned repeatedly to fashion because its constituent pieces are so adaptable. A check, a riding boot or a substantial piece of knitwear can carry an association with tradition without requiring the entire outfit to follow it.

Janie and Jack’s version makes those references lighter. The dogs help.

**Dressing childhood properly ** There is also something slightly countercultural about the collection.

Children’s wardrobes are now surrounded by the same forces shaping adult fashion: rapid trend cycles, licensed characters, sportswear and clothing designed primarily for convenience. Janie and Jack has built its identity around another proposition, treating childrenswear as an opportunity for proper design in miniature.

Its clothes run from baby through to age 12, and the company explicitly describes its seasonal collections as stories, moving between influences including nautical and equestrian dressing.

That explains why the new collection works better as a complete seasonal idea than simply a range of dog themed clothes. The canine motifs provide personality, but the tailoring, knitwear and country references give the collection its structure.

There is nostalgia here, certainly. Houndstooth, corduroy, gingham and riding boots come with generations of associations attached. Yet putting them into a contemporary children’s collection prevents that nostalgia from becoming too precious.

The brand has also recently established a physical presence in Britain, with its UK store at 206 King’s Road in Chelsea, alongside HATCH. Its British website currently sells in sterling and offers the autumn collection to UK customers.

For a label that likes to build a story around each season, the English countryside provides plenty to work with. This autumn, however, the best dressed member of the family may be the one appearing on the jumper.

Explore Janie and Jack’s dog inspired collection