Puppy Love

The fashion pack go nowhere without their pedigree chums - and the Jack Russell is the breed of choice, says Anna-Marie Solowij

Tu as du chien, the French say, meaning you've got the-look, the style; you're on it. In British terms, the only chien it's important to have is fashion's perennial favourite, the Jack Russell. These feisty terriers may nip at the ankles of anything that's not in their favour, yet they are neat enough to tuck under an arm and have the cred that a shih-tzu will never possess. Sure, every dog has its day - last season it was Italian greyhounds (like Jade Jagger's); the pug was once popular (Alannah Weston is an owner); and miniatures such as the chihuahuas favoured by Scarlett Johansson and Hilary Duff are now as dated as the handbags they're carried in. But the Jack Russell has got staying power and style. Literary greats William Faulkner and Tom Wolfe owned Jacks; fashion types Karl Lagerfeld and Veronica Etro are fans; and Philip Treacy has Harold and Archie, siblings found on the net via Epups.co.uk. "Within 24 hours they'd traded their cardboard-boxfactory home for dinner with Linda Evangelista," says Treacy, who grew up with Jack Russells.

But these winning terriers aren't always content with being behind the fashion scenes. Preen designers Thea Bregazzi and Justin Thornton were accompanied by their roughcoated terrier, Monty, for a Vogue sitting; writer Plum Sykes was photographed in her wedding dress for US Vogue with Gussie, her cousin's dog; a Jack Russell accessorised a Tim Walker fashion story in the April 2005 issue; and 2005's Vogue List featured artist Lily Musker with canine sidekick Snoop. The breed has even achieved the ultimate - a Vogue cover, shot by Peter Lindbergh.