NEW BRIT CASHMERE

ONE OF THE ONLY compensations for the impending British winter - besides thoughts of hot chocolate, halves of Guinness and post-country walk roast dinners - is all the lovely new British cashmere offerings that have made their way onto the baby market in the last few years. Here are a few of our current, and largely affordable, favourites…

1. Angel Cashmere. Michelle O’Neill noted a distinct lack of hip, modern cashmere baby blankets back in 2006 when she was searching for a contemporary design for a friend’s baby. Luckily Michelle’s brother Jamie (both are from Fife in Scotland) had worked in Scottish cashmere for over eight years after studying textiles at university, and had recently moved to Beijing to join the growing Chinese cashmere industry. He was quickly able to translate Michelle’s ideas into a range of graphic, somewhat-retro 100% cashmere blankets (pictured left) that are surprisingly affordable. As a super-cheap alternative Angel Cashmere also offers a stripy version made from Lamere - a supersoft mix of crossbred animal fibres. Just £70-80 for a cashmere blanket; £30 for Lamere. www.angelcashmere.com Read the rest of this article

Posted 2 November 2009 in Textiles

ORGANIC FOCUS: Aravore Babies

THANKFULLY - for the guilt riddled among us - the range of organic clothing and blankets for wee ones is on the rise. But one of the originals and the best, is Aravore.

Started by Yanina Aubrey, pictured left with daughter Thea, in 2005 in collaboration with her sister Norah, the collection is entirely made by hand in London, where Yanina and her family is based, and in Asuncion, Paraguay, one of the areas where Yanina and Norah grew up.

Here, the sisters gradually developed an appreciation of the handcraft skills around them, thanks to their high-achieving economist mother, who could also produce “the most glorious summer dresses” according to Yanina, and a grandmother who taught the sisters to crochet, knit and sew on an ancient Singer. Finally, with the birth of Yanina’s firstborn, (”there was no knitwear available in organic cotton at the time and very little in organic merino wool”), they decided to launch a fashion range for kids that didn’t just make use of traditional South American skills, but was intended to help local women carve out a living for themselves, and support Paraguay’s ethical farming developments. Today, apart from employing over thirty knitters and seamstresses in their workshop in Asuncion (and five in London), the company has helped mothers and those unable to travel to the workshop to develop mini workshops at home - and offered basic business training too.

All that good stuff is before we even get to the clothes. These are a refreshing, slightly retro, heirloom quality clothing and blankets for babies and small children (£15-£110), such as ruffled cotton rompers and embroidered dresses, where there’s not a logo, ‘clever’ slogan or cartoon character in sight. Instead there’s a focus on tactile knitwear.

This, says Yanina, is not just because hand-knitting and crochet is a particular skill area of Asuncion, but because: “There is something quite wonderful about knitwear. It’s very Read the rest of this article

Posted 6 July 2009 in Textiles

TOP SIX: rugs

$Katvig\'s new rugs range$ EVER SINCE EDGE TO EDGE carpets fell out of fashion in the mid 90s in favour of modern floorboards, rugs have come into their own. The choices for kids, however, haven’t been too exciting until recently - something ege, the super-cool Danish carpet manufacturers, who have worked with the likes of Conran & Partners and Christian Lacroix, is addressing with the help of Katvig, the eco-conscious Danish fashion and home textiles company. Together they’ve launched a new range of rugs (pictured left) with Katvig’s signature bold, graphic motifs, that have, in the words of Svend Aage Færch Nielsen, Managing Director of ege carpets, “a clear attitude to design and the environment.”

*95 cm diameter - £130.00, 127cm diameter, £170.00. Order in the UK from Sparkle & Spin. Find an international stockist at www.katvig.com

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Posted 9 March 2009 in Textiles

OH BOY: Molly ‘n’ Jack Spring/Summer 2009

DON’T GET US WRONG. There are great young boys’ clothes out there. But they tend not to be on the highstreet or super-affordable. Which is why we wished we’d discovered Molly ‘n’ Jack earlier. The girls’ clothes from this relatively obscure brand that is sold at large Boots stores here in the UK (although we have yet to find one), and online at the Boots-linked mini mode webshop, are lovely, but it’s the boys’ clothes that really shine (and sell out quickly).

Take a little bit of French bon-chic-bon-genre, add a touch of vintage-look styling, a smattering of Marc Jacobs-influenced preppy detailing (large buttons, etc), great quality, and you have a capsule collection that is just a little bit different. And which, this season at least, never costs more than £24. The only problem? For now it’s sold only in the UK, so international readers need to start making British friends now…

*Pictured here are the new fine knit blue top (£10) and roll-up twill trousers (£12), above, and the stripe waterproof coat (£20), right, all available from February.

**Molly & Jack at www.minimode.co.uk

Posted 26 January 2009 in Textiles

CULT ITEM: Updated. The BabyBjorn Carrier

By Jenny Dalton

THERE AREN’T MANY BABY ITEMS I’d buy again with hindsight. But one of them would definitely be the Swedish BabyBjörn Carrier - which coincidentally was designed in the year of MY birth: 1973, by the original founders of BabyBjörn AB, Björn and Lillemor Jakobson. The design was based on the premise only ‘discovered’ in the late 1960s by paediatricians that babies (and parents) benefitted from close physical contact.

The design, meanwhile, was aimed in particular at fathers - a poignant reminder that 35 years ago it was practically unheard of for a dad to carry his baby around as nonchalently as most fathers do today. ”Both parents should feel comfortable carrying their babies,” says Lillemor Jakobson. “It feels good to have contributed so that fathers today are more involved with their baby.”

Why is the BabyBjörn still the baby carrier leader? It works (carries baby comfortably forwards and backwards, though it’s up front carrying position works best for out and about rather than pottering at home), and it’s good looking. It’s easily stashed away, it’s unisex, it’s hardwearing and washable, and… now it’s available in lots of colours (actually, 8, including bright pink and orange) for those who are a bit less-than-in-love with the ‘Classic’ model’s limited colour choices.

Our favourites in the new Spirit range are the ‘Red Heart’ (above) and the all-black shown here right, but it would be tempting to buy the full range of colours (click here for more), to match all your outfits…