You may have noticed that over the years my two Sussex Spaniels, Charley and Browney, have featured in many of the Hackett brochures, often upstaging the models.
I rescued Charley from Battersea Dogs and Cats Home some thirteen years ago and she has been a constant companion ever since. With her modelling career now over, Browney has taken to her ambassadorial role with gusto. They both appear in my book Mr Classic and have posed for many magazines, with only a Vogue cover eluding them. They are more famous than I am, damn it!
I remember walking them in the park one day when a lady came dashing up to me, breathlessly enquiring, “Is that Charley and Browney?” Ha, and I had thought she was about to ask me if I was Mr Hackett! That put me in my place.
When I heard about Battersea Dogs Home celebrating their 150th anniversary, I thought it was an excellent opportunity to give something back, in gratitude for all hard work Charley has done in the past to promote Hackett.
So I have made a children's range of polo and rugby shirts with Charley and Browney embroidered on the chest, and Battersea Dogs and Cats Home embroidered on the sleeves, with 10% of all sales going to Battersea.
This collection will launch at the beginning of October and we will also have special Battersea Dogs and Cats Home windows to promote the range.
As I write this, they are both sleeping having become divas, refusing to get out of their baskets to do photo shoots for less than 10,000 biscuits a day!
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