HOT HEADGEAR

Photography & Styling by Gretchen Easton

THERE’S A headgear trend blowing in on the summer breeze… for play, sun protection, or keeping hair in place, hats and headgear are unavoidable seasonal essentials. So best make them cute.

Click on each of the below images for a better view and to see captions.

*Hair and Make-up, Josefine Wissenberg.

**With thanks to models Madeline & Brooklyn-Bella (www.zurimodelandtalent.com); Dominica (jetsetmodels.com); Kaija (www.fordmodels.com) and Jacob.

Stockists:

Christa Davis: www.christadavis.com; Clothkits: www.clothkits.co.uk; Ellie Bellie Kids: www.elliebelliekids.com; Franka Stockholm: www.frankastockholm.com; Frugi: www.welovefrugi.com; Gap: www.gap.com (An EU online shop is coming soon); Hucklebones: www.hucklebones.co.uk; I Love Gorgeous: www.ilovegorgeous.co.uk; JCrew: www.jcrew.com; Kids of Luxury: www.kidsofluxury.com; LittleFashionGallery: www.littlefashiongallery.com; Little Society: www.littlesociety.com; Mini Giants: www.minigiants.com; Moo G Clips: www.moogclips.com; Petit Couture: www.petitcouture.com; TopShop: www.topshop.com; Tutu Couture: www.tutucouture.com; Wovenplay: www.wovenplay.com

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Posted 1 June 2010 in Textiles

RUG APPEAL: Mini Moderns rug collection

By Jenny Dalton

I’D ALMOST GIVEN UP on the search for a playroom rug that’s a bit different, looks plush and comfortable rather than nylon-y, isn’t too large, or too cute, or too expensive or there again too cheap. Fortunately there’s a new rug player in town.

It’s increasingly hard to keep up with the Mini Moderns boys’ output (there’s new wallpaper, mugs, cushions) but their new hand-tufted 100% wool rug collection - in collaboration with RugDesigner - is one to spend a bit of time perusing. Each rug is made to order from info@minimoderns.com and costs £495 for a 1m x 2m rug. We particularly like the fact they’ve gone outside their core collection designs to include quirky offerings such as the Owl and Balloon (pictured above). The other nine designs are pictured below… Now, which one to choose?

*www.minimoderns.com

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Posted 1 April 2010 in Textiles

SOFT BABY - outstanding organic

YOU CAN’T ALWAYS TELL when you’re eating organic food. But you can always tell when you’re wearing organic clothes. And once you’ve felt your baby in organic cotton it’s hard to go back to anything else, particularly as non-organic cotton can be one of the most chemically-treated fabrics around.

So points out Yee Wong, owner of our current favourite new organic baby brand, SOFT baby - not least for its interesting genesis. China.

Although China has become synonymous with poor work practices and cheaply made products, there is good to be found there too, says Yee, who grew up in Hong Kong before moving to New York to study graphic design.

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Posted 17 March 2010 in Textiles

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