Qatrah

Have you heard of the slow-fashion movement?

Veteran women’s fashion designer Charu Wadhwa’s slow-fashion infant wear label Qatrah is designed in New York and ethically handcrafted in India by local artisans. Using handwoven, heirloom-quality fabrics, each Qatrah piece stands out in a sea of disposable fashion with designs that endure and can be passed down for generations.

“I think slow fashion lies in the essence of the textile process of Qatrah, where materials pass through the hands of one craftsperson to the other,” Charu says. “Qatrah is an effort to eschew factory and sweatshop culture in favor of equal pay and better working conditions for our artisans to create beautifully made pieces that can be worn, treasured and handed down from one child to the next.”

Charu’s clothing designs focus on freedom of movement for babies with airy silhouettes that reflect her Indian heritage. Rompers, harem pants, low-slung trousers and cotton-silk blankets (perfect for baby’s first trip home from the hospital) round out the breezy collection for 0 to 2-year-olds, available at www.qatrah.net.

Exquisite, Enduring Artistry

Qatrah is an ode from Charu to her daughter, Aria. Her newest collection, Little White Bird, has flowy, away-from-the-body silhouettes that feature the symbolism of the bird as its central motif. Charu revives the traditional Indian crafts of Daraj (reverse applique) and Chikankari (white on white embroidery) of Lucknow, with her distinctive, intricate embroidered designs of subtle bird details and playful, colorful tassel accents. The comfortable, breathable fabrics are all lovingly hand-dyed and finished on hand looms.

Upliftment

Charu Wadhwa is a designer with a strong interest in sustainable practices in the fashion industry and works for the upliftment of skilled and semi-skilled craftspeople. She hopes to be part of the new wave of designers and entrepreneurs that implement more conscious and careful practices within the fashion design field.

Charu’s extensive background in high-end women’s fashion sets her apart from other micro-fashion designers. Educated at NIFT in New Delhi and FIT in NYC, she has over a decade of experience working for the most esteemed design houses, including Ralph Lauren and Calvin Klein. From Nicole Kidman at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival, Naomi Watts at the 2014 Oscars, to Katie Holmes at the Met Gala, she has been instrumental in many memorable red carpet fashion moments.

“Do you know who made your clothes?” asks Charu. “At Qatrah, we work with artisans directly and towards their upliftment!”

Now, who wouldn’t love that?

Children’s Retail Today publishes new articles each week about innovative, imaginative and inspiring products for children. Contact me today with your great idea!

IMAB Group

My Youth furniture line offers a fresh approach to kids’ bedroom design.

Italian furniture company IMAB Group manufactures and distributes high quality, modern modular home furnishings. The 50+-year-old business débuted in the U.S. market about a year ago with a new youth collection called My Youth that is made in Italy and designed for school-age children.

The newest My Youth collections introduced this year give Millennial parents a fresh approach to their kids’ bedroom designs.

“With the global connected Millennials, we know a sophisticated design attracts their sense of style,” Luigi Nocchi, president of IMAB America, says. “[They] want clean, simple silhouettes to maximize small spaces living [and] fun furniture.”

Made from melamine finished core panels, My Youth furniture satisfies both form and function aesthetics, is easy to clean and resists damage from everyday wear and tear. Each furniture grouping includes a bed (twin or full), dresser/mirror and nightstand; some also have an Armoire and a desk.

Established in 1968, IMAB Group produces master bedroom, kitchen and living room furniture, has 12 manufacturing plants and currently has more than 4,500 retail customers around the world.

Children’s Retail Today publishes new articles each week about innovative, imaginative and inspiring products for children. Contact me today with your great idea!

Little Hippie

Good Art Is Everything

Under the direction of founding artist Taylor Swope, lifestyle brand Little Hippie creates art you and your children can wear, enjoy in your home or send to friends and family. In her words,

We are adventurers, cosmic explorers, radical dreamers, and flower children.
We are creatures made of love and we make the world our playground.
We are artists, crafters and designers; every day creators.

Founded in October 2002, Little Hippie is known as a community voice, fostering creativity to nurture the magic inside all of us, at any age. As a long-time licensee of the Grateful Dead, Little Hippie has an expert understanding of a devoted fanbase, establishing a genuine connection with them as well as new fans who share their stories and are looking for new merchandise.

Little Hippie & The Jim Henson Company

Recently, The Jim Henson Company signed Little Hippie as apparel and home goods licensee, to create new lines of merchandise featuring beloved classic brands Labyrinth and Fraggle Rock. The lines include infant and toddler apparel, adult apparel, accessories and home goods for direct and online sales, as well as selected specialty and mid-tier retail locations nationwide. Apparel sizes range from infant, toddler and youth with coordinating adult styles. The home goods line will include Little Hippie’s signature woven cotton blankets, fleece blankets, tapestries, bed linens, posters; the accessory collection will include pins, tote bags and hats.

“As someone who grew up watching Fraggle Rock,” Taylor says, “I can attest to how much these characters mean to our existing customers who already want to pass on to their children Jim Henson’s valuable lessons of friendship, understanding of others and interconnectedness. No other creator aligns with our company values more, and I am thrilled to have the opportunity to learn from Henson’s imagination through developing art from his characters.”

The collection launched this past July at the Museum of Pop Culture’s retrospective Jim Henson Exhibition in Seattle. Products are now available at LittleHippie.com with further retail placement throughout Fall 2017.

“Fraggle Rock was created to encourage and celebrate acceptance, tolerance and diversity in the world. Little Hippie is a perfect partner, sharing these core ideas and bringing a uniquely creative vision to these new merchandise lines,” Nicole Goldman, Executive Vice President of Marketing and PR for The Jim Henson Company, says. “Fans will dance their cares away with Taylor’s imaginative designs and products that reflect the joy and irreverence of this beloved brand.”

Children’s Retail Today publishes new articles each week about innovative, imaginative and inspiring products for children. Contact me today with your great idea!

Little Climber

“Read your book once per day and use a climber while you play. Give it time and you will see, your little baby in a tree.”

-Little Climber

After David Stuebe has Lily, his first child, he learns quickly that it isn’t easy to find products that will grow with her. “I come from a background in manufacturing and decided to create a product line that allows our children to play, read and grow throughout their experience with the Little Climber,” he tells me.

Kickstarter Campaign Run Thru May 14

David is now creating one of the only product lines on the market designed to promote 100% natural growth progression of a child’s mind, body and strength. Little Climber is a Smart Home Playground designed to enhance your children’s motor skill development, balance control, creativity and so much more. Little Climber is made for children ages six months to 3+ years.

Why is a Modular Playground so Important?

Every child’s mind, body and strength develops at their own speed. While most products are built based on the progress of the “average child,” Little Climber “actually grows” with your little one, supporting your child’s abilities at the exact moment needed in their stage of development.

The Little Climber Experience

David is a father, designer and creator of what he calls the “Little Climber Experience.” He’s also a student of the Montessori approach, the Dr. Emmi Pikler method and his favorite, Magda Gerber. One year ago, his children inspire him to start his children’s furniture company that produces intuitive environments for little ones that will benefit them today, tomorrow and forever.

Step 1 – Play Transform your room, yard or nursery into a fully interactive climbing experience with endless course options. Play on a light, simple course or setup an advanced and rigorous climb.
Step 2 – Read Watching your little one climb is such a fun and magical time. David captures that joyful moment in a book to help you and your little one get excited and celebrate the climbing experience.
Step 3 – Grow Little Climber is a modular product. As your little one’s abilities grow, slowly advance them to the next level of difficulty by raising or moving the accessories (RockWall, Ladder, Slide).

Built with Care in the USA

“It’s about time that a company builds a product not solely for immense capital gains but to help and benefit others,” a thought that goes through David’s mind while he starts committing his life to helping children with smart toys and playgrounds. David names his furniture factory after his daughters, Lily and River, where every detail of Little Climber and its accessories are refined and perfected for long-term durability, functionality and aesthetics – right here in America. Click here.

Children’s Retail Today publishes new articles each week about innovative, imaginative and inspiring products for children. Contact me today with your great idea!

4Everly Adorned

Adding an artsy flair to a child’s room, while informing, inspiring and contributing toward the conservation of animals.

Jennifer Hiser created her brand-new company, 4Everly Adorned, to inspire children with art. Jennifer makes hand painted, one-of-a-kind furniture pieces and accessories that not only add exciting flair to a child’s room, they personify originality and self-expression.

“I wanted my daughter’s first room to be alive with vibrancy and unconventional style,” Jennifer says. After she is less than impressed with the one-note, flat and mass produced furniture and décor of department stores, she puts her own background in the arts and her love of color and design to work. “I created one-of-a-kind, hand painted pieces of furniture for my one-of-a-kind baby girl.”

Jennifer explores numerous creative outlets ranging from working at well-known fashion magazines in New York City, to designing soft accessories for a global fashion brand in Chicago, until she finally finds her own artistic niche. “Designing my daughter’s nursery led me to discover the area of design I was looking for.”

Jennifer values the importance of inspiring children, and educating them as well. Her passion for animal rights grew while on safari in South Africa, and she immediately wanted to do all she could to help. “We have teamed up with a nonprofit that helps to create awareness about wildlife conservation,” she says. “We hope to connect and collaborate with other local artists, and to globally educate as many young minds as we can.”

Children’s Retail Today publishes new articles each week about innovative, imaginative and inspiring products for children. Contact me today with your great idea!

The Crescent Womb

A new and innovative solution for promoting the healthy growth and physical development of newborns the way nature intends.

The Crescent Womb Infant Safety Bed is a hammock made of mesh that attaches to a baby’s crib. When a parent places their newborn in the center of the “womb,” the baby can curl up in the fetal position, suspended in the soft and subtle air.

Inventor James Spencer says it’s the closest thing to the child sleeping in their mother’s arms.

“Just as a baby grows in a mother’s womb, the idea began its infancy in my head,” James says. “By designing an infant sleeper that removes avoidable risks associated with early infancy, I slept easier as a new father, (knowing) my beautiful daughter is sleeping safely. This idea became a mission to help not only my Stella thrive, but to also help every other beautiful new life thrive.”

The Crescent Womb is destined to help both babies and their parents sleep more soundly, particularly during the first months of sleepless nights. The safety bed is ideal for infants up to around six months, or when they begin to sit up unassisted, roll over and start to crawl.

Recent research conducted by the American Academy of Pediatrics finds 91% of the newborns in the study “had loose or non-approved items in the bed with them;” 21% were placed on “non-recommended” sleep surfaces and 14% weren’t put to sleep on their backs in sleep environments “with established risk factors for sleep-related infant deaths.” It is estimated that 3,500 cases of Sudden Unexpected Infant Death occur in the U.S. each year, and half are cases of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, according to the Center for Disease Control. Twenty-five percent of the sudden unexpected deaths are caused by accidental suffocation and strangulation in bed.

After consulting with moms and medical professionals, James worked on his prototype for nearly two years before he revealed the Crescent Womb, which has been tested to meet Consumer Product Safety Commission standards. James’ Crescent Womb Kickstarter campaign surpassed its $30,000 goal recently, raising over $100,000.

“I wanted to help a new generation get a head start. More importantly I hoped that Crescent Womb could be the catalyst to a more intimate, natural, and safe approach to early childcare.

I hope this product can bring a sense of relief to all new parents, just like it did for me, and help their little ones thrive, just like it did for Stella.”

Children’s Retail Today publishes new articles each week about innovative, imaginative and inspiring products for children. Contact me today with your great idea!

Atissu

New lifestyle brand Atissu is on a mission to make everyday objects more lovely.

The début collection of contemporary boxed tissues from one of the UK’s newest lifestyle brands, Atissu, is quite distinctive. What we really like – experienced brand expert, packaging designer and creator Sam Dumont is pluck enough to include the kids’ rooms in her designs.

These days, parents are keen to complement the beautiful modern interiors of their homes with equally beautiful accessories – including tissue boxes. Why hide them when they look like this?

Desirable for the Design Conscious

“I hope you will love (as much as we do) and will agree that our tissue range is spot on for children’s bedrooms and playrooms,” Kerry O’Connor, who runs PR for the company, says. “These little boxes often sit next to carefully curated items like ornaments, prints and favorite toys; things that people have taken time, energy and money to source.” The launch collection of 12 new contemporary boxed tissues is designed and made in Britain, and the folks at Atissu work closely with like-minded suppliers to source materials sustainably.

“Parents tell us that there’s nothing available that they actively like, and certainly nothing that compliments their children’s bedrooms; their children just adore our new designs, we’ve been told!”

All About Atissu

Apart from choosing a fabulous name for a tissue company, Sam and her team like to work with select illustrators, artists, textile and graphic designers on original box designs that please the eye. For the premiere children’s collection, they collaborated with illustrator duo Loopz art. Four different boxes are available with four little buddies on each side of each box, totaling 16 cute but cool characters: Fox & Co, Tiger & Co, Bear & Co and Panda & Co. The box designs are printed on matt board from well-managed forests so as to not compromise on sustainability or quality. “We print locally in London using only vegetable based inks and water based varnishes,” Kerry tells me.

All About the Tissues!

For those little delicate noses, the tissues are made from 3-ply super-soft FSC material.

In addition, Atissu has just launched a beautiful new collection of Giclee prints. As Sam likes to say, it’s just “a little bit of lovely every day.” Available wholesale and online.

Children’s Retail Today publishes new articles each week about innovative, imaginative and inspiring products for children. Contact me today with your great idea!

WallCandy Arts and Wallies

Two beautiful and innovative brands, complimenting each other and most importantly, offering loyal customers hundreds more options for home décor.

WallCandy Arts joins forces with Wallies as the newest division of The McCall Pattern Company.

WallCandy Arts began in 2003 with the purpose of offering parents a stylish, high-end solution for decorating their children’s walls. Over time, the company grew beyond regular decals to include patented peel and stick chalkboards, as well as whiteboard decals and an array of edgy and sweet temporary wallpapers.

Wallies began in the late 1990’s, and was purchased by The McCall Pattern Company in 1998. Wallies offers well-priced decorative peel and stick wall decal ideas for every room in the house. Peel and Stick chalkboard and dry erase have also become a large part of Wallies’offerings.

Together, both brands will continue to honor McCall’s tradition of DIY products that are beautiful, inspirational and functional. The two brands will be introducing many new designs in the weeks and months to come.

Children’s Retail Today publishes new articles each week about innovative, imaginative and inspiring products for children. Contact me today with your great idea!

The KbK Home Collection

Kidz helping kids, one masterpiece at a time.

At the recent NY Now, The Market for Home + Lifestyle, CGG Home Fashions in cooperation with non-profit Kidz b Kidz, introduced the KbK Home Collection, featuring sheets, coverlets, quilts, shower curtains, decorative pillows and more with artwork and designs “that hold the voices and stories of the kids that created them.”

“It is a product with a purpose,” says David Ziegler, CGG’s president and director of marketing. The designs range from the cheery and whimsical to looks that are “really quite sophisticated.”

Powered by Kids and Supported by Celebrities and Philanthropists

Nancy Corderman and Jan Weinshanker co-founded Kidz b Kidz (KbK) to teach children about empathy, empowerment and the importance of helping others simply by drawing a picture at the organization’s KbK Art Parties, held at hospitals and schools. “It’s Kidz helping kids, one masterpiece at a time,” says Gail Parenteau, Kidz b Kidz spokesperson. “We inspire kids to be empathetic by sharing the feelings of another child who is sick. We tell ‘our story’ about Usher Syndrome and encourage other kids to tell ‘their story’ or feelings by drawing a picture.”

The drawings are used in the design of KbK Products With Purpose such as the non-profit’s KbK-branded cookies and the KbK Home Collection, and are sold retail and to hospitals nationwide. Proceeds from KbK Products With Purpose benefit Usher Syndrome and Pediatric medical research.

Children’s Retail Today publishes new articles each week about innovative, imaginative and inspiring products for children. Contact me today with your great idea!

Babyhome’s New Products

Babyhome’s newest bassinet model is called Air and it comes complete with an easily attachable changing pad that can also be removed with just one hand –allowing parents to multi-task to their heart’s content. Air also has a practical mesh window hidden on its side under the fabric for better ventilation and the side pockets are the perfect way to keep everything organized and at hand.

Air for Travel

Air is ideal for use in smaller quarters or during the first months of a baby’s life in the bedroom with mom and dad. It’s light weight and easy of assemble, too –with an innovative adjustable leg system that changes from stationary to a rocker to wheels with the click of a button. Air comes with a high-density, totally airtight and waterproof foam mattress that prevents the baby from getting caught between the edge of the mattress and side of the bassinet and a honeycomb structured mattress pad that is safe and breathable.

Introducing Wave

Wave is an innovative bounce chair, that’s stylish enough to blend in to a contemporary, modern décor. Wave’s structure, which features simple, soft lines, turns its design into one of the warmest and most comfortable for baby on the market. It offers a pleasant, steady, front-to-back rocking motion which relaxes baby to ensure their utmost restfulness and also comes with the option of a stationary position. Wave folds easily and compactly so it can be stored in small areas.

Based in Barcelona, Spain, Babyhome’s award-winning, highly designed, extremely functional and lightweight baby products are made with the utmost attention to function and safety. Babyhome’s U.S. offices are located in Budd Lake, New Jersey.

Children’s Retail Today publishes new articles each week about innovative, imaginative and inspiring products for children. Contact me today with your great idea!