Fashion for junior is big business as more high-end designers are making your tot look hot to trot. More diffusion lines and designer tie-ups are springing up as fashion-conscious parents seeking interesting options are prepared to pay to pamper, say retailers.
Two kidswear retailers here have just expanded their lines, while another has brought in a new luxe range.
Hong Kong luxury brand Shanghai Tang, which already has a children’s apparel range, rolled out a babywear and accessories line last month.
Multi-label retailer Club21 launched a standalone store in Paragon on Sept 25 for Italian girlswear specialist Monnalisa. Doting mums can expect to pay anything from $199 to $800 for dresses and footwear.
Meanwhile, British designer Stella McCartney has designed a capsule tots line for American casualwear chain Gap.
Gap’s stores in Wisma Atria and VivoCity will start selling the collection, for girls aged six months to 12 years old, from next week.
The fall/winter 2009 collection for boys will not be available here, but Gap will stock apparel for both boys and girls early next year from McCartney’s spring/summer 2010 collection.
A hefty 40 per cent of its 9,000 sq ft Wisma Atria store is already dedicated to kids and babywear.
Prices range from $49 to $159 for McCartney’s baby collection, and $49 to $239 for her kidswear.
Couples wait longer to have children these days and raise smaller families, say sociologists. As a result, they can also afford to spend more on their kids, even in a downturn.
Douglas Benjamin, chief operating officer of FJ Benjamin, says that “parents will still spend on what they feel is best for their children, despite scaling back on other expenditure”.
The home-grown fashion retailer holds the distribution rights to Gap in Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia. He adds: “The only difference might be a higher level of attention to ensure that they are getting the best value for money.
“Durability, comfort and attention to detail are most important, followed by ease of maintenance, ease of outfitting and style.”
This is echoed by Nick Troedson, 28, Shanghai Tang’s international marketing and communications manager, who says in an e-mail: “Durability is now of greater importance than style.”
McCartney’s kidswear designs take a more adult approach, incorporating her signature soft-colour palette and mix of street and formal pieces.
Her line for Gap includes this season’s catwalk trends of leopard prints, ruffles and military details.
On her foray into kidswear, McCartney, 38 – herself a mum of three – says in a press statement: “There is a void in kids’ clothing brands for adult and chic looks.
“There are those that are prissy and uptight, and then others that are street, but it’s hard to find a range that encapsulates all of that. That’s what I’ve tried to mix together and achieve in this collection.”
WAY TO GROW
Shanghai Tang, meanwhile, has seen a new gap in the children’s market – homeware.
The brand is no stranger to kidswear, having had a line since 1994, but launched its first kids’ line of lifestyle accessories last month.
The Baby Lantern collection has cardigans, pants, bibs, woolly hats and bags – and also photo frames, photo albums, towels, quilts, slippers, keepsake boxes, mugs and stationery with Chinese-inspired motifs.
There are plans to expand the line further next year to celebrate the Chinese Year of the Tiger.
Over at Club21, its 600 sq ft Monnalisa shop is an addition to its kidswear stable of Armani Junior in Paragon and two Kids21 boutiques in Forum and Paragon malls.
The Kids21 shops stock luxury labels such as Jean Paul Gaultier, Christian Dior and Marc Jacobs for girls, and D&G, Paul Smith and DKNY for boys.
Paragon’s level five is becoming something of a kids’ central. It already houses at least three other kids’ fashion retailers – American brand Little Colette, French label Petite Bateau and KidStyle, which retails American kidswear OshKosh B’Gosh.
The Monnalisa store here is the first in South-east Asia and offers four of the international brand’s five sub-labels for girls from three months to 16 years. The ranges include casualwear, evening dresses and footwear.
What’s next, kiddie jewellery?
ianlee@sph.com.sg
This article was first published in Urban, The Straits Times.
