It started with one very good dog.
We kept looking for clothing that treated pets like the main characters they are — and kept finding generic paw prints. So we drew our own.
A pet isn't a decoration on a shirt. They're the reason the shirt is covered in hair.
Pawtagonist began with a simple annoyance. Every pet product we found was either a cartoon we had no relationship with, or a paw print — the same paw print, everywhere, belonging to no animal in particular.
So we made the animal specific. Character No. 01 is a golden retriever: warm, a little daft, endlessly loyal, and drawn from scratch over dozens of rounds until he looked like a golden and not just "a dog". He is not modelled on any existing character. He is ours, and now he can be yours.
Why the family editions exist
Most pet clothing shows the animal alone. That's a strange thing to buy for a household, because almost nobody lives alone with a dog. There's usually a second person, or two, or children who consider the dog their sibling.
So the back artwork comes in editions. The same retriever, in the same drawing style, standing with whoever actually lives with him — one owner, two, or the whole family. The artwork changes; the dog doesn't.
How each piece is made
Nothing is printed until someone orders it. Your edition goes onto the back of a Gildan 18500 heavyweight hoodie at 300 DPI, sized to the garment's own back panel so the artwork sits where it belongs.
The head mark on the left chest is embroidered rather than printed — stitched thread, not ink. It's small on purpose, the scale of a chest badge rather than a graphic, and it will outlast the hoodie it's sewn onto.
Where the money goes
Two per cent of every order is set aside for animal shelters. Each month, the people who ordered that month choose where it goes. We'd rather the decision sat with the customers than with us.
You can read how that works on the 2% pledge.
What comes next
Character No. 02 is being drawn now. After the golden retriever we intend to work through the animals people actually share homes with — cats first, then the rest — adding an edition each time rather than a whole catalogue at once.