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https://www.zara.com/uk/en/kids-girl-new-in-l391.html?v1=1186802

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https://issuu.com/millyhobbs/docs/allsaints_report__1_

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SUM is an integrated creative agency that provides services for globally recognised brands in the luxury, lifestyle and fashion sectors.

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Find information about Modern Slavery Act at ALLSAINTS.

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AllSaints products are made using ethical labour and materials.

Our vendors, suppliers and subcontractors are all obliged to sign our compliance manual based on the core conventions of the International Labour Organisation.

The provisions of these conventions constitute the minimum and not the maximum standards all suppliers must meet in order to do business with AllSaints.

All animal derived products are from ethical vendors that ensure animals are treated humanely. It is our strong view and business policy that human or animal rights should never be compromised as a result of our business in any form.

We have a code of conduct to ensure all employees that produce our products are treated ethically and fairly.

We always seek to work with reputable and ethical suppliers globally and only engage vendors with transparent track records.

We have established a narrow and select supplier base with whom we work very closely.

As a result we have gained knowledge of their practices and collaborate with them on continuous improvements in process and standards.
ARE YOUR PRODUCTS SUSTAINABLE?
See more information .
HOW DO YOU PROCURE EXOTIC SKINS?
AllSaints is a member of the CITES management authority (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora ) who require strict adherence to record keeping.

This is a very rigorous system that ensures traceability, sustainability and best practice.

We always seek to work with reputable and ethical suppliers globally. We only engage vendors with transparent track records.

We have established a narrow and select supplier base with whom we work very closely.

As a result we have knowledge of their practices and collaborate with them on continuous-improvements in process and standards.
ARE ALLSAINTS FRAGRANCES TESTED ON ANIMALS?
AllSaints fragrance are not tested on animals
WHAT IS NOT FOR SALE?
AllSaints supports the Not For Sale charitable organisation which protects people and communities from human trafficking.

Their work provides survivors and at-risk communities in nine countries with safety, stability, education and economic opportunities.

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AllSaints products are made using ethical labour and materials. Our vendors, suppliers and subcontractors are all obliged to sign our compliance manual based on the core conventions of the International Labour Organisation. The provisions of these conventions constitute the minimum and not the maximum standards all suppliers must meet in order to do business with AllSaints.

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ALLSAINTS UK: Not For Sale - Free To Play

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AllSaints are proud to be in our eighth year of a ten-year commitment to our charity partner, Not For Sale. Fighting against child-trafficking and exploitation, we flew out to Thailand to celebrate their annual Free2Play movement; days set aside for the children to play and enjoy being young and free.

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The Benefits and Challenges of Manufacturing in India

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As India aims to become a top manufacturing hub, India is on the threshold of major reform. India is poised to rank among the top three manufacturing locations by 2020. If you are considering locating or moving your manufacturing operations to India, there are many good reasons to do so.

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Is Turkey still worth it for apparel companies?

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Turkey can be an attractive location for the manufacturing of apparel and textile goods. Companies doing business in Turkey must keep in mind that certain challenges present can come with political and monetary costs.

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If you were composing a wardrobe from scratch, what staples would it contain? A polished (but not too shiny) biker jacket? A beautiful, go‑anywhere fluid silky dress? That one pair of jeans so perfect you don't need any others? Some flattering knitwear in updated silhouettes and misty neutrals (and why not throw in a bit of navy while you're at it?) A fabulous, oversized swashbuckling coat in an expensive-looking colour? A tailored jacket? Some killer boots? A nicely crafted leather tote? A reimagined trench? All in soft shades, with a muted aura of luxury.

That's pretty much the dream proposition of many style-conscious women I know, whatever their ages. So I'm not as surprised as I might have been a few years ago to hear someone who has designed just such an intelligently put-together collection of age-fluid clothes say he doesn't take age into consideration.

Instead, Wil Beedle, creative director of the AllSaints chain, is far more preoccupied with how a style works across all body shapes, or with what potential customers - and he's one of them - have to do in any one day. "I started today on a shoot in a grim East End photographic studio. I'm having lunch with you in a smart hotel. I'll probably pop into the Frieze art fair this evening, have supper with friends and end up in a club. Another day I could be on a long flight and have to go straight to a meeting. We're all doing so much now, and most of us don't have time to keep changing."

At the front of his mind when he first conceived the Limited collection, which launches exclusively in Selfridges tomorrow, was versatility. "In many ways, clothes have to work much harder than ever before," he muses. (He's an English Lit graduate from Cambridge who went on to study fine art and live in Paris; he muses a lot.) "They have to be all things, all the time. People don't go home and dress before they go out for dinner. Because of that, increasingly our customers are looking for quality and a sense of luxurious comfort. Those pieces have to look brilliant wherever, and however many times, they're worn."

What we've arguably lost in a sense of occasion dressing, we've gained in a more sophisticated understanding of quality. Apparently people are prepared to pay more for "basics" these days, provided they're perceived to have longevity and integrity. The AllSaints-Selfridges collection will sit next to Céline, Givenchy and Gucci. Yarns are Italian, the black, fray-hemmed jeans are hand-cut, the sheepskin is full-length and light, with laser-cut shoulders for streamlining, and leathers across the brand are sourced ethically.

"We're amazingly diligent about that," he says. There are only 50 of each style, each hand-numbered, and everything has been designed to work not simply with the rest of the collection, but with other items already in many wardrobes. Then again, the same could be true of a lot of the core AllSaints range, where a chic-looking coat can be had for under £400.

Is Beedle confident there will be a market for this Selfridges collection, which runs from £500 to £2,000? "There will be Selfridges regulars who have never bought the brand and for them, in this context, those prices will make complete sense, because honestly, they represent extraordinarily good value." In other words, should the super-luxury brands be worrying about the encroaching "contemporary luxury" labels that offer high fashion, high production values with high, but not stratospheric prices?

"What all fashion retailers have to remember is that we're not just competing with other clothes labels," he says. "We're up against a Eurostar ticket to Paris or a flight to New York." It's the first time I've heard a designer articulate this point so clearly - but he's right.

In 2016, the issue facing fashion houses isn't lack of consumer spending power but that people are as interested, if not more so, in experience-based purchases as they are acquiring yet more stuff. "You have to make the whole process of buying clothes pretty special," says Beedle. "It's the opposite of the online retail culture where everything is available all the time. This is very limited. When it's gone, it's gone." That's true of the store-within-Selfridges. It's only there for a month.

Arguably, this is a clever piece of repositioning of a label that's had its ups and downs. Launched in 1994 by husband and wife team Stuart Trevor and Kait Bolongaro, AllSaints became the place Voguettes came for their Rick Owens tributes, when Owens was the hottest name in fashion.

In 2004, when the company was snapped up by Kevin Stanfield, the financier and co‑founder of Karen Millen, it had 10 stores. Stanfield sold it on to the Icelandic Baugur group. By 2009 it was £53 million in debt. Lion Capital, the venture capitalists who paid £100 million for Jimmy Choo in 2005 and sold it three years later for £225 million, saw their opportunity and put Beedle, then 31, in charge of both men's and women's wear.

"Most women - and men - don't really buy a head-to-toe look any more," says Beedle, who specialises in designs that appeal across generations and geographical boundaries (the brand has stores in Tokyo, Mexico, South-East Asia and the US). "Perhaps it's a sign of confidence. Increasingly our catchphrases here are non-ubiquitous, authentic, wear‑any-season design."

The seven pieces you need for a wear-anywhere capsule wardrobe by Krissy Turner

A flattering blouse

A feminine tie waist coat will be a staple for many winters to come. Whistles' offerings for the new season include this fluffy brown number, that will great with a bright jumper. Keaton wrap coat, £550 (whistles.com)

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Why AllSaints is now the grown-up high street store we've all been waiting for

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If you were composing a wardrobe from scratch, what staples would it contain? A polished (but not too shiny) biker jacket? A beautiful, go‑anywhere fluid silky dress? That one pair of jeans so perfect you don't need any others? Some flattering knitwear in updated silhouettes and misty neutrals (and why not throw in a bit of navy while you're at it?)

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London Fashion Review - British Fashion Designers, Labels and Brands

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All Saints Spitalfields - An Iconic London Fashion Label

View the latest All Saints Fashion collections

Our pick on Amazon:

Since its humble beginnings in 1994 as a wholesale menswear brand, All Saints has gone from strength to strength. As at the start of 2011, the brand currently boasts 63 stand-alone stores and 47 concessions in many worldwide locations, selling menswear, womenswear, childrenswear, accessories and even homeware. However, it has not been all smooth sailing for the All Saints brand name. In 2010, the label was on the brink of failure after the collapse of two Icelandic banks, both of which had heavy financial investment in the brand. However, All Saints Chairman Kevin Stanford battled with administrators and after intervention of the high court - managed to retain control. The All Saints label seems to be back on track financially after an injection of fresh finance from British banking group Lloyds TSB.

A brief history of the All Saints brand.

In the relatively short period that All Saints has been trading, the label has had a meteoric rise from humble beginnings. The label is consistently expanding its presence in the fashion market, with many more stores in many different locations in the pipeline.

A brief timeline of the label includes:

1994: Establishment of All Saints as a menswear brand selling wholesale to Harvey Nichols, Harrods and Barneys.

1997: Opening of the first stand-alone store in Foubert Place off London's Carnaby St.

1998: Womenswear collection launched

2006: All Saints ecommerce website launches

2009: New website launches including international versions in a range of languages to target foreign markets.

2010: The Icelandic banking collapse directly impacts All Saints financial backers. The label is potentially in turmoil if not for Chairman Kevin Stanford retaining control.

2010: Despite the recession, All Saints posts a 50% rise in profits to £24million. The flagship New York store also opens taking in more than $1million in its first two weeks of trading.

2011: All Saints set to change hands as liquidators of the Icelandic backers of All Saints put the company up for sale. In April 2011, a £102 million deal was struck with US private equity investors Goode Partners and Lion Capital, the latter of which is known as a consumer industry specialist that has invested in fashion chains including American Apparel and La Senza.

How the All Saints Label was founded

AllSaints was founded by Stuart Trevor in 1994. In 2003, Trevor sold it to the current chairman and owner, Kevin Stanford who runs the business with his right hand man and chief executive, Stephen Craig. Interestingly, Trevor has since started another fashion label with partner Kait Bolongaro - unsurprisingly the London designer streetwear label is called Bolongaro and Trevor.

Stanford and Craig - recently voted number 1 and number 2 respectively, the most influential and important retail leaders by trade Journal Drapers - are both fiercely dedicated to the brand. Craig reportedly slept in the New York Flagship store on the night before it opened, while Stanford painted the ceiling of the store himself to make sure it was perfect for opening day.

Inspiration for the brand name

The name 'All Saints' was inspired by both, cool, arty and musical All Saints Road in London's Notting Hill and 60's TV icon Simon Templar i.e. 'The Saint'. The label is said to be inspired from musical heritage, with greats such as The Clash (All Saints Road regulars). Musical culture plays a key role in the All Saints aesthetic - this is illustrated every collection with the release of signature, graphic tees. Musical influences have led to a long-standing history of collaborating with the emerging talent in the British music industry (detailed below.).

The All Saints Aesthetic

All Saints is unique in the sense that they are not slave to trends. Instead, the brand has a mission to create an image that blends culture, fashion and music. It is individual clothing that expresses pure attitude.

The colour palette is a simple mix of greys and beiges with the attention being paid to elegant, architectural, sharp edge, clothing and vintage style pieces. Distressed denims, chunky knits, over-dyed and washed jersey casuals and iconic leathers all work together to create the ultimate rugged worker look for men and the sexy, yet androgynous look for women. The Skull is a trademark motif on printed tees, as is the ram skull motif that is present on all of the fine knits.

All Saints have capitalised on the fact that not all women want to be pretty and girly - rejuvenating sleek tailoring that pays homage to the past with slick masculine silhouettes, cuts and fabrications. This is present for both the womenswear and menswear ranges.

It is not only the apparel of All Saints that has a signature style. All the stores follow the aesthetic of the authentically renovated, original store that was at Fouberts place in London's shopping district of Carnaby Street. In each store, the brickwork is stylishly exposed, the wood flooring carefully aged and the trademark vintage Sanger sewing machines fill the display windows, ceiling to floor. Despite its old character and edge, All Saints stores now offer in-store Apple iPad access to browse for your favourite pieces with the flick of a finger. It also means it's a hell of a lot easier for the shop assistant to find what you're after!

All Saint - Fashion Innovators

The All Saints website offers a full shopping experience. The lookbooks allow patrons to shop for companion pieces and complete outfits, while the archive collections allows All Saints fans to search for vintage pieces and older styles. Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) by Bite Digital means that the website is visible to a huge online audience which is critical to generating healthy returns.

All Saints have accounts on the two big social media juggernauts, Facebook and Twitter, providing company information, news and upcoming events. People can now access all All Saints information via their iPad and iPhone app; the application syncs with your iPhone, iPod Touch or iPad and updates the content automatically. You can locate your nearest store, browse and buy from the entire range and be kept up to date on when new styles arrive in store.

Saintly Acts

Thanks to the sponsorship of Stephen Craig, All Saints offer a scholarship scheme with the GCU, London. Six scholarships are available in MSc International Fashion Marketing, designed to equip the student with essential fashion marketing expertise, business knowledge and personal skills demanded by business operating in today's increasingly global and competitive environment.

All Saints Music Culture

As highlighted above, the All Saints brand has strong links to the music industry. The label works with the emerging talent of the British music scene, as well as established global acts, such as: Stereophonics, Robbie Williams, U2, The Kooks, Babyshambles, Kelis and Kings of Leon.

Throughout the year, All Saints host underground AllMusic events and live music shows. In2011, the label launched All Saints Basement Sessions where live interviews and performances are to be filmed for the global audience in a warehouse space below the E1 London design studio, featuring new and experienced artists. Zane Lowe, Little Comets, Surfer Blood and Idjut Boys have already contributed to the basement sessions and videos can be viewed on the All Saints website.

So strong are their links to the music industry that All Saints have their own radio station, which can be accessed either through the All Saints or Last FM websites. Only the coolest of the cool make the playlist including the vintage hip hop of A Tribe Called Quest, the classic Mowtown stylings of Marvin Gaye and the cutting edge electro of Australian group, Empire of the Sun.

The Future of the All Saints brand

In 2010, All Saints attracted financial trouble due to its Icelandic backers collapsing.

In 2011, the woes are unfortunately continuing...

In February 2011, Liquidators of two collapsed banks have put their stakes in All Saints up for sale, valuing the retailer at $140 million. In April 2011, a £102 million deal was struck with US private equity investors Goode Partners and Lion Capital, the latter of which is known as a consumer industry specialist that has invested in fashion chains including American Apparel and La Senza. Under the terms of the deal, Kevin Stanford will retain an equity stake in the newly capitalised company along with Stephen Craig (chief executive), finance director Peter Wood, and two of the company's senior fashion designers.

Lion Capital will own about 75% stake, Goode Partners 15% and Kevin Stanford holding a 10% stake.
Lion has agreed with Goode that the latter can buy about 20% of All Saints back from Lion if it is able to raise the money.

Stanford, with his chief executive, Stephen Craig, has worked wonders with the company. In 2010, sales rose by 50% to £133 million and profits doubled to £24 million. The dynamic duo have been described as "mad, but bloody brilliant" after taking All Saints global during one of the worst economic downturns in history. They have done the seemingly impossible before, so they may just do the same again. With new stores planned in various locations in Asia, Europe and America it is unlikely that Craig and Stanford will be willing to walk away from the company that they have made such a success.

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All Saints Fashion - Clothing, Accessories, Jewellery & Footwear

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View the latest All Saints Fashion collections Since its humble beginnings in 1994 as a wholesale menswear brand, All Saints has gone from strength to strength. As at the start of 2011, the brand currently boasts 63 stand-alone stores and 47 concessions in many worldwide locations, selling menswear, womenswear, childrenswear, accessories and even homeware.

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Nothing in this world is certain but death and taxes - and kids outgrowing their clothes. It's a steady market that has replenishment built right in. However, despite the short wear time, parents don't want cheap disposable fashion. Rather, they're willing to spend a little more for their little ones - from the time they're being diapered (yes, parents do care about their child's baby wipes) right through the tween years.

"Most parents are concerned that clothes are suitably tested for wear and tear, especially for purchases such as school wear and outerwear, etc.," says WGSN 's trend expert Ellen Kirkhope, head of kidswear. "Most parents would probably pay a small premium for guaranteed performance."

According to Cotton Incorporated's Lifestyle Monitor Survey, about nine in 10 parents say quality (92 percent) and durability (89 percent) are important to their childrenwear purchases.

Research from the Monitor indicates that 84 percent of parents prefer their children to be dressed in cotton because they feel cotton clothing is the most comfortable (68 percent), breathable (67 percent), and durable (57 percent). This may be why one in two parents say they are bothered by fiber substitutions away from cotton in their children's clothing and more than six in 10 (63 percent) are willing to pay a premium to keep their children's clothes cotton-rich.

The 2014 U.S. childrenswear market is expected to reach almost $55 billion in sales, according to MarketLine. Meanwhile, a report from Datamonitor forecasts the year's worldwide children's apparel sales will reach $186 billion. The luxury market - where parents might spend upwards of $700 for a holiday dress - will account for $29.6 billion of the global children's market, according to an account in the New York Post.

Like the rest of fashion, the kids' market can tell the tale of two shoppers: the parent who will spare no expense to keep his or her child looking fab, and the parent who wants good clothes - within a budget.

The Doneger Group 's Patty Leto, senior vice president of merchandising, says while the upscale customer isn't concerned with the expense, most other shoppers generally look for price, novelty and fashion, and quality.

"In addition to the obvious difference of cost between markets, high-end consumers look for exclusivity of brand or product, quality and forward fashion merchandise," Leto says. "I think that both the mainstream and mass customer is sensitive to price and looks for strong price/value product. Styling at all levels will always be the key."

TuTu Spoiled's Jessica Snarski, owner of the Lyndhurst, NJ, children's boutique and e-commerce site, says her shop caters to the fashion forward parent that wants to keep her child looking trendy in well-made clothes.

"The parents here all want outfits that they know won't shred to pieces. They're looking for good quality and they're willing to pay for that," Snarski says.

WGSN's Kirkhope says the average person is looking for practicality and washability.

"Many designer items will use premium fabrics for hand feel and finish, but they're not practical," she says, remarking on the differences between the customer levels. "The market is quite split. Brands between mass market up to mid-level tend to be more child-focused and fun. Designer and high-level brands go for 'mini me' looks."

When shopping for school clothes, 47 percent prefer to buy more fashionable items for their kids than wardrobe basics, the Monitor survey finds. More than half (54 percent) are looking for the best quality at the best price. The remaining 26 percent have an extremely practical outlook: these Monitor survey respondents say they want the best price because "my child or children are just going to destroy the clothes or grow out of them before the school year ends."

Snarski says most of TuTu Spoiled's shoppers fall into the fashion-minded category. They don't mind paying boutique prices, "as long as their child is wearing something different and unique. Even if they're just buying it to wear for school pictures, they want something unique that's top quality."

Parents want that top quality when it comes to pampering their baby's bottom as well. Nearly half of all parents are also willing to spend more for cotton baby wipes, according to Cotton Incorporated's 2012 Baby Wipe Survey. Further, three in four parents said they prefer their wipes be made from cotton, saying cotton wipes perform better than non-cotton (wood pulp, polypropylene, etc.) in terms of being healthy for baby's skin (60 percent), soft (60 percent), sustainable (58 percent), comfortable (56 percent), and non-toxic (51 percent).

TuTu Spoiled doesn't stock baby wipes, but it does have a large assortment of clothes and gifts for newborn to tween girls, with brands including Biscotti, Dollcake Clothing, and Kate Mack. The retailer sells an equal amount of clothes online as it does in-store, Snarski says.

"We have customers that prefer to shop in-store because they want to see and feel the clothes and their quality, or have their kids try them on," she says. However, some know the specific brand and what they're looking for so they just purchase it online. For some with small kids, it's just easier to shop online than to drag them into a store."

The Monitor finds that parents say they typically purchase about 80 percent of their children's clothes in-store and 20 percent online. Top retail channels shopped include mass merchants (28 percent), chain stores (20 percent), specialty store (19 percent), and department stores (11 percent).

Kirkhope says online shopping for children is still a growing market, led by designer brands. "It's definitely an area to watch."

This article is one in a series that appears weekly on sourcingjournalonline.com. The data contained are based on findings from the Cotton Incorporated Lifestyle Monitor Survey, a consumer attitudinal study, as well as upon other of the company's industrial indicators, including its Retail Monitor and Supply Chain Insights analyses. Additional relevant information can be found at CottonLifestyleMonitor.com.

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Parents Will Pay More for Unique, Quality Kids Clothes

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Nothing in this world is certain but death and taxes - and kids outgrowing their clothes. It's a steady market that has replenishment built right in. However, despite the short wear time, parents don't want cheap disposable fashion.

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Racked is no longer publishing. Thank you to everyone who read our work over the years. The archives will remain available here; for new stories, head over to Vox.com, where our staff is covering consumer culture for The Goods by Vox. You can also see what we're up to by signing up here.
With reports that 41-year-old children's apparel chain Gymboree will be filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and shuttering 350 stores nationwide, questions about the kids retail market mount. Has online shopping fundamentally changed the way that parents shop for their kids' clothes? Or is there still space for the Gymborees of the world?

The answer to both questions, as is the case with most questions percolating in the ongoing brick-and-mortar versus e-commerce debate, is both yes and no.

Brick-and-mortar isn't going away anytime soon, particularly for kids apparel, say some analysts. According to Rachel Saunders, insights and strategy director at youth-research firm Cassandra, 78 percent of parents in the US prefer to shop in-store over online, and 70 percent shop continuously throughout the year, as opposed to seasonally.

One key factor that maintains brick-and-mortar's relevance in the kids clothes market? Sizing. "Sizes are always different," says Korin Lewis. She shops in Austin for her 2-year-old daughter, and struggles with both size variance among brands and the need to keep pace with her toddler's rapid growth. "Also, it's just easier to tell in person what something looks like."

Store choice matters in any market, and kids clothing is no exception. "Whereas the family shopping experiences of the past were designed with the kid in mind, today's experiences are more about appeasing parent and child alike," says Saunders, adding that 54 percent of US parents prioritize stress-free options when selecting a retailer. "To Gen Y parents and their children, the best stores are a 'destination' or place of discovery that feels like a special experience."

In that way, Gymboree might have fit the bill as a destination-slash-discovery-zone if only it had returned to its roots by introducing more mommy-and-me classes to its struggling retail locations, but the company sold its Play & Music business to Singapore investment group Zeavion in 2016 for $127.5 million in an attempt to move the struggling corporation out of the red. After a buyout from Bain Capital in 2010, Gymboree reports a net loss of $324.9 million for 2017's second quarter, with Bloomberg adding that the chain "hasn't posted an annual profit since 2011, with losses totaling more than $800 million" and a debt of $1 billion.

"To Gen Y parents and their children, the best stores are a 'destination' or place of discovery that feels like a special experience."

Walkable cities like New York are rich with kids clothes boutiques that give parents, as Saunders puts it, "a sense of calm, not chaos." But elsewhere in the country, big-box stores like Target and affordable chains like Old Navy retain their foothold in the children's retail space.

"Target is our go-to for kids clothes," says Shana Westlake, who lives in Rockville, Maryland. Target's frequency of sales are a big draw for Westlake when shopping for her two kids, as is the superstore's one-year return policy on apparel. "Most of my 4-year-old's everyday clothes are from Target."

Despite Target's lag in sales at the end of last year, CEO Brian Cornell shared in the company's 2016 Annual Report that "Signature categories, including Style and Kids, gained market share, growing approximately 3 percentage points faster than our total comparable sales," and "two new blockbuster brands for kids - Cat & Jack and Pillowfort - [...] have consistently generated double digit comp sales increases since they launched." Target declined to share additional financial details when reached via the company's media hotline.

"There definitely is something to be said for maximizing my time that I don't have [my daughter] with me, being able to go and get shampoo and other things like that while I'm also clothes shopping."

There's another big upside for parents when it comes to shopping at megastores like Target and Walmart: the one-stop-shop factor. It's a logistics benefit, albeit a double-edged one. "It's like the story you hear, 'Oh, I went in for paper towels and I spent $50 on kids clothes,'" says Lewis, who adds that it's easier to shop solo than with her daughter in tow. "Time-wise [...] there definitely is something to be said for maximizing my time that I don't have her with me, being able to go and get shampoo and other things like that while I'm also clothes shopping."

Target and Walmart are also inexpensive. The inarguable facts that kids grow and play (often outdoors!) cannot be undersold; many parents nix high-end brands and seek out budget-friendly alternatives at chains like Gap-owned Old Navy specifically because they know they'll need to buy replacement leggings and tees before YouTube's Kids app can auto-load the next episode of Peppa Pig. Old Navy is the biggest earner of Gap's brands, producing nearly $7 billion in sales by last tally.

Though brick-and-mortar dominates right now, the future for kids clothes shopping looks like it'll soon pivot to e-commerce. "Online shopping is slowly gaining momentum with parents, especially as more e-commerce platforms catering to parents emerge," says Saunders.

To that point, D.C.-based Marieke Lewis Brock shops frequently at Old Navy for her 2-year-old son, but largely online, taking advantage of their sales and promotions and applying rewards collected on her Banana Republic card (another sister company under the Gap Inc. umbrella). "Who knew that card would come in so handy?" she says. "I hardly pay anything, the clothes hold up well, my little boy loves what I pick out, and it's super easy."

According to an industry survey, parents spend two-thirds more money shopping online and three-quarters more time shopping online than their non-parent counterparts. "Parents, especially working parents, are arguably the busiest adults in history," explains trends expert Daniel Levine of Avant-Guide Institute. "Anything that makes their lives easier is going to be preferred over a similar activity that is more time-consuming."

Colleen Abel, a mom of two in Tulsa, agrees. "I hate shopping in person because the kids are always with me, and I am constantly rushed. Online shopping means I don't just grab the first thing I see to get it over with." Jayme Kennedy, a mom of two in Upland, outside of Los Angeles, adds that limited proximity to malls renders online shopping much easier. In terms of brick-and-mortar, Target is Kennedy's main option.

"I hate shopping in person because the kids are always with me, and I am constantly rushed. Online shopping means I don't just grab the first thing I see to get it over with."

"The question is not just about how [superstores] are performing today, but what is the direction of the trend, and the outlook is not good," adds Levine. "Target and other big-box stores need to do a better job of being multichannel to compete."

Sure, superstores are desirable because of their multifunctionality and ubiquity, but then there's Amazon, the online equivalent of the all-in-one brick-and-mortar.

"Absolutely e-commerce has changed the way parents shop, and Amazon is really the primary stakeholder in that shift," says Cooper Smith, director of Amazon research for L2, a business-intelligence firm. Amazon's "core strategy," explains Smith, is to boost Prime membership, whose benefits include free two-day shipping and subscription services. "Parents fall squarely into the consumer demographic Amazon is targeting with Prime." Smith adds that almost 50 percent of diapers sold on Amazon are eligible for Prime's two-day shipping. "Now, who do you think owns those diapers? Amazon, of course."

The ease of buying necessities like diapers and socks on Amazon makes the e-commerce giant especially dominant in the baby market. Smith points to estimates from TABS Analytics that highlight baby goods as a $30 billion-a-year industry. Adds Smith, "Roughly 20 percent of those sales occur online, more than any other [consumer packaged goods] category, and of that online share, Amazon controls roughly 43 percent of the market."

"Parents fall squarely into the consumer demographic Amazon is targeting with Prime."

While Amazon delivers an online alternative to the convenience of an all-in-one brick-and-mortar, the site doesn't necessarily deliver on the fashion-forward front. Instead, a host of specialty kids retail businesses have emerged online, not only as replacements for boutique shopping, but also as fulfillers of specific parental needs, targeting themes where brick-and-mortars may fall short - like choice, ease, and the kid pickiness factor.

For a plethora of options and ample sales, there's Zulily, an online-only retailer founded in 2010 and geared toward moms. "We launch 9,000 products a day in 100 different sales events," says Zulily's merchandise manager Lisa Vammen, "and it's all up to 70 percent off, which is the icing on the cake for money-conscious parents." The company reports net sales for 2016 at $1.5 billion.

Relative newcomer Primary caters to an oft-iterated parental desire for simplicity, not to mention gender-neutral options. Founded in 2015, Primary's gimmick is that its styles are gimmick-free, solid-colored basics with zero logos, slogans, or decoration - which, say co-founders Christina Carbonell and Galyn Bernard, formerly of Diapers.com, means that their styles can't go out of style. "Who has time to reinvent the wheel every time your favorites get too small?" write Carbonell and Bernard via email. "Our customers appreciate the simplicity of Primary in terms of both the aesthetic of our clothing and the ease of shopping," the latter of which hinges on browsing by color. Primary declined to share sales figures, but Carbonell and Bernard report that the company's Facebook group has surpassed 150,000 fans.

And for more trend-conscious parents and kids, there are a number of new curated-box companies cropping up online that exclusively package looks for kids. KidPik, Rockets of Awesome, and Mac & Mia are essentially kid versions of Stitch Fix and Trunk Club, operating on a stylist-selected/keep-what-you-want model. KidPik calls their delivered shopping experience "fun-boxing."

There's a third option alongside brick-and-mortar and online shopping, a time-honored tradition of parenting now given an extra boost by the efficiency of e-commerce: secondhand shopping, facilitated by apps.

"In the aftermath of the recession, [Gen] Ys have become more selective about how they spend their time and money," says Cassandra's Saunders, adding that more than half of US parents buy clothes for their kids secondhand, and more than 40 percent resell their kids' clothes once they've outgrown them, increasingly on platforms like Reshopper, Kidizen, and Envie.

"In the aftermath of the recession, [Gen] Ys have become more selective about how they spend their time and money."

Facebook has proved valuable in connecting parents with one another to save bucks on needed items and de-clutter their homes of pieces they no longer need. "The combination of the wear and tear they put on clothes [and] how fast they grow out of them means we don't need a lot of new stuff," says Ramona Layne Mueller, who shops secondhand on Facebook for her two kids under 5 years old. In Austin, closed Facebook groups like South Austin Buy-Sell-Swap Maternity, Baby & Kid Items, Ladies with Babies, and Austin Mamas Classified boast memberships in the thousands.

Instagram, too, is a useful resale tool, especially among parents hunting for a specific item. Kennedy in Upland is a big fan of the platform for that purpose. "It's easy, and lots of times, you can find items that have sold out in stores. I'm currently waiting for an IG tag on an H&M unicorn dress for my unicorn-obsessed 6-year-old."

To all the unicorn-obsessed 6-year-olds out there, and their devoted parents, the shopping world is their oyster.

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Where Have All the Children's Stores Gone?

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Is your child better dressed than you are? You're not alone.

A recent survey of more than 600 mothers by the women's lifestyle site SheKnows.com found that 62 percent of moms said they shell out more on their children's clothing than they do on their own. For back-to-school shopping alone, most responding to the nonscientific survey said they planned to spend between $100 and $250 per child on clothing and shoes.

I'm not picky about what my kids wear as long as their attire a.) keeps them warm and b.) doesn't get me arrested ... and yet I'm finding that even with my budget-conscious purchases of (discounted) loud-patterned shirts and the like, I'm still running up a higher bill on my kids' wardrobe than my own. One of the big reasons why is universal: Kids grow out of their clothes all the time while moms grow out of their clothes less often and for different reasons (sigh). Also, if you have more than one child, it makes sense that your clothing expenses would add up, especially since you can't always rely on relief from hand-me-downs.

But there's more to the story. After I talked to a couple of other moms, I realized that while many of us are living the same clothes-horse kid/threadbare mom dichotomy, our reasons can vary beyond the obvious.

1. Clothes shopping for your kids is fun.

You know I chatted with other moms because I never would have come up with this one on my own. I find squinting at size tags and grappling with teeny tiny plastic hangers rather annoying, but many moms don't mind because ... FASHION! More power to them, including Manhattan mom Ginger Zurita.

"I love to shop but I have more fun shopping for my son. He's right at that age (5) where he is getting taller and able to really pull off certain styles like, hats, ties, etc," Ginger told me.

2. It's easy to find clothes that look good on your kids; on you, not so much.

When was the last time you walked into a dressing room with five things, decided all of them made you look runway-worthy, and then did your best supermodel strut to the cash register? I did it ... um ... never. Your average adult doesn't automatically look good in everything.

But kids generally don't need clothes that accentuate this and minimize that. They just need clothes loose enough to let them move and tight enough not to fall off. Apparel that meets this simple criteria is easy to find and, hence, easier to buy.

"Let's face it, little ones look good in pretty much anything!" Ginger said.

3. Your kids change their clothes a lot.

Betsy Bradley's oldest daughter attends a private school and wears a uniform five days a week. Yet the Illinois mom of three said she, too, spends more on her girl's attire than her own. The same goes for the younger two. She blames it on the whims of her mini-fashionistas.

"I have girls," she said. "They switch outfits 12 times a day."

Clearly, you don't have to be female to be discerning - and demanding - about your outfits. My older son, from time to time, has been known to insist that certain articles of clothing "match" - right down to his superhero underwear. As you can imagine, that's no picnic for me. Good luck explaining to your 4-year-old that his last clean T-shirt - an orange one, perhaps - totally matches his red-and-blue Spiderman underpants.

4. Your kids destroy their clothes.

Neither Ginger or Betsy mentioned anything about messy kids and stubborn stains, but this is a biggie for me. My younger son, who refuses to wear a bib, can't even look at a jar of tomato sauce without a stain the shape of Europe - and about its size - magically materializing on his shirt. Sometimes stain removers work; sometimes they don't and then we have yet another smock to add to the pile and one less top in regular circulation. That can only happen so many times before it's back to the clothing store we go.

5. You're spending less time at the office.

Clearly, this is specific to parents who cut back on their careers after having children. Ginger attends school online and I've worked from home ever since the birth of my second child. Because we don't have to dress for work - at least, not in the conventional sense - we can buy less or, in my case, almost nothing at all. So if you visit me at home and I happen to be wearing a wooden barrel while typing away on my keyboard, don't freak. It's just my thing now, OK?

6. You have limited time.

Betsy, a lawyer, does have to dress for the office. Balancing work and family means her time is limited and shopping for herself isn't a priority. Betsy says she doesn't mind - she doesn't need much, other than the occasional trip to TJ Maxx, she added.

"If I'm not in my work clothes, I'm usually in sweats or workout clothes!"

7. You put yourself last.

Are we neglecting our wardrobes for the sake of our families? Ginger doesn't put it quite that way, but for many of us, the answer is surely yes.

"As moms we are naturally inclined to nurture our families and make sure everyone else is taken care of before we think of ourselves," she said. And that includes taking care of others' clothing needs before our own.

I actually really like this explanation because it gives me an excuse to wear the same comfy, long-sleeve shirt four times a week. The truth is, I prefer comfort to style most of the time, but should a passing fashionista give me a disapproving glance, I can just blame my sartorial disarray on the children: "You don't understand. I look bad because they look so good!"

Yeah. Let's just go with that.
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Article Posted 5 years Ago

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7 Reasons Why We're Spending More on Our Kids' Clothing Than Our Own

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Is your child better dressed than you are? You're not alone. A recent survey of more than 600 mothers by the women's lifestyle site SheKnows.com found that 62 percent of moms said they shell out more on their children's clothing than they do on their own.

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Insider Picks writes about products and services to help you navigate when shopping online. Insider Inc. receives a commission from our affiliate partners when you buy through our links, but our reporting and recommendations are always independent and objective.

Kids grow so quickly that buying them nice clothing often seems like an irrational way to spend money, until you see how cute and charming your children look.

When shopping, consider every factor at play, including the season, school dress codes, a likely growth spurt, and, of course, their own sense of style.

Well-made kids' clothing won't wear out as quickly and can be handed down later.

The best places for quality children's clothes are Tea Collection, Gap, J.Crew, and Nordstrom.

The best places for affordable children's clothes are at Walmart, Target, Amazon, and JCPenney.

New parents will quickly discover that buying clothes for kids is a fraught affair: On one hand, you want them to look really nice, but on the other, kids often outgrow their clothes within a single season, which means you'll have to spend more money to buy new clothes, while the old ones pile up.

So, how do you strike a balance? My solution is to split the wardrobe into two categories, with the dividing factor being the price. My kids each have a number of high-quality garments suited for holidays, fancy meals out, and other special occasions, coupled with cheap, disposable clothing for art sessions, play dates at the park, or pasta dinners with red sauce. It's no different than how most adults build their wardrobes, frankly.

Splitting between higher-end and budget-friendly retailers allows you to spend wisely, splurging on a few select items while filling in the wardrobe with lower-cost clothes. Of course, there's a tradeoff: High-quality clothing lasts longer than cheaper threads and is unlikely to need replacement before it's outgrown, and vice-versa for lower-quality garb. And, finer garments also make better hand-me-downs, too.

With strategic shopping, your kids can look their best while keeping your budget in the comfort zone. Just plan ahead for the season, the events on the calendar, a school's dress guidelines, your kid's own sense of style, and, of course, any younger siblings or cousins who might extend the lifespan of nicer clothes.

Here are the best places to buy clothes for kids by age range:

Read on in the slides below to check out our top picks.

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The best places to shop for kids' clothes by age range

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Insider Picks writes about products and services to help you navigate when shopping online. Insider Inc. receives a commission from our affiliate partners when you buy through our links, but our reporting and recommendations are always independent and objective.

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Across 45 global clothing retailers tracked by Edited, a retail technology firm, the average price of a pair of children's sneakers is $90. For kids' denim jackets, it's about $114. A pair of little jeans will set you back $60.

There are far cheaper options for dressing your kids, of course. But Edited notes that the reason these averages look so high is because of an influx of luxury clothing into the children's market. More parents are happily opening up their wallets to make their little ones look fashionable.

High-end childrenswear has been around a while: Ralph Lauren, Burberry, Christian Dior, Gucci, and Dolce & Gabbana have all had lines for years. But the sector is currently experiencing a protracted growth spurt, as new brands keep entering it. Givenchy and Balenciaga, for example, have both launched childrenswear in the past year or so. According to Edited's data, in May 2016 luxury made up 4% of the childrenswear market. Now it's 11%.

The rise of social media is a big factor in that growth (tellingly, Kim Kardashian and Kanye West have a kids' line now). Parents are acutely aware of how their kids look in the photos they share. The kids are aware of how they look, too. More and more miniature fashion influencers are racking up Instagram likes by the thousands, wearing Gucci sweatshirts and Supreme tees they might be finding through Hypekids, a children's site launched by streetwear portal Hypebeast.

The phenomenon isn't just in the US and Europe either. It's happening in countries such as China as well.

Though sales of children's clothes are small compared to their adult counterparts, they offer companies a new source of sales with low risk of diluting the brand. "Developing a children's line was only a matter of time," Philippe Fortunato, CEO of Givenchy, told Business of Fashion (paywall) last year.

For parents, it can be as much about them as their kids. "Young parents with kids don't want to sacrifice their own aesthetic choices for the sake of dressing their children," designer Jeremy Scott told BoF. "They want them to look cool, like an extension of themselves."

Among mothers and their daughters, this mini-me phenomenon has deep roots, dating back to French couturier Jeanne Lanvin launching a children's line in 1908. A recent story in The Atlantic explained the popularity of matching mother-daughter looks over the past century:

The matchy-matchy look flourishes in "time periods when there is more cultural emphasis on the family and the mother-daughter relationship," said the fashion historian Jennifer Farley Gordon, who researches children's clothing. In practice, the matching style can also signal affluence: a mother with leisure time to sew-or money to shop for-mirror-image outfits, and who is more likely to be a stay-at-home mom. Part of the idea, also, is that there's not much point in being one half of a matching set if you're not spending significant amounts of time together in public.

Today, thanks to social media, we can be in public all the time.

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Parents are dropping serious cash to dress their kids like mini hipsters

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Across 45 global clothing retailers tracked by Edited, a retail technology firm, the average price of a pair of children's sneakers is $90. For kids' denim jackets, it's about $114. A pair of little jeans will set you back $60. There are far cheaper options for dressing your kids, of course.

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With the school year approaching for parents, back to school retail season is in full swing for many children's apparel and toy brands. If you are selling clothing or soft goods for kids, you may want to consider common safety standards required by the Consumer Product Safety Commission(CPSC). I know what you're thinking, "But I'm a small business, not a giant corporation!" You're right. You probably qualify as a small batch manufacturer, meaning you make less than 75,000 units a year, made less than $1 million in gross income last year, and therefore don't have to go through rigorous third-party testing for CPSC requirements on flammability and lead. So why talk about regulations and limit your freedom to design? It's simple: To avoid risk. I'm no Quality Assurance or Compliance expert, but as a designer it's good to be mindful of the use of your products to protect your customers and your business. So here's an overview of three major CPSC tests and requirements to keep the wee ones safe.

What's the risk? Buttons, bows, fringe and other embellishments can be pulled off by little fingers and go straight in their mouth, becoming a choking hazard! Cases of strangulation by jacket hood drawstrings on playground slides have been reported. There are also cases where waist drawstrings on jackets have been caught in moving school bus doors and have dragged children.
What are the Rules?

No drawstrings on hoods and children's upper outerwear in sizes 2T to 12

No toggles, knots, and other attachments at the free ends of waist drawstrings

No more than 3 inches of a drawstring outside of a casing when the garment is extended to its fullest width

Clothing made for children ages 3 and under need to be evaluated for potential choking hazards, such as small buttons, rhinestones or sequins

Design Suggestions:

Machine bar tack trim securely to garments and baby products so they can't be easily pulled off

Leave ribbon belts untacked on garments in case they get caught in an escalator so a child can easily escape

Avoid toggles on drawstrings since they get caught in small gaps on playground equipment such as slides.

Use velcro, snap, and button closures on jacket hoods instead of drawstrings

Avoid pom-poms, sequins, and beading. I know they're cute! But save it for kids 4 and up

Screen print or embroider patterns and designs on fabric instead

Check out the requirements of ASTM F1816-97 , Standard Safety Specification for Drawstrings on Children's Upper Outerwear "Standard."

What's the Risk? Excessive lead in fabric dyes, trim finishes, and surface prints can poison kids! Phthalates are chemical plasticizers used in the production of plastics and paints. There are currently six types of banned phthalates in toys and child care articles that are used to facilitate sleeping, feeding, teething, or sucking.
What are the Rules?

No more than 100 ppm total lead content in a garment or soft good

No more than 90 ppm lead in finishes and surface prints

No more than 0.1 percent of DEHP, DBP, BBP phthalates in products used for sleeping or that can be placed in the mouth

No DINP, DIDP, and DnOP phthalates

Design Suggestions:

Use fabrics with organic and vegetable dyes

Use natural fibers

Check lead content of hardware including enamel snaps, buckles, and buttons

Check lead content in non-metal trim and embellishments such as puff prints and screen prints

What's the Risk?
Loose fitting sleepwear, thinner fabrics(less than 2.6 oz), and fuzzy fabrics with a pile can ignite and burn quickly from small-open flames. With CPSC 1610 Flammability Standard, a fabric's relative flammability is determined by considering its surface structure, weight, and content. Sleepwear for children 0-6 months+ and 7 to 14 years are further regulated by CPSC Standards for the Flammability of Children's Sleepwear.
What are the Rules?

Plain surface fabrics(with no pile) over 2.6 oz are exempt from flammability testing regardless of fiber content

Plain and raised surface fabric made of acrylic, modacrylic, nylon, olefin, polyester, wool, or any of those fiber combinations are exempt of testing regardless of weight

Hats, gloves, shoes, and interlining fabrics are exempt from flammability testing

Children's sleepwear must self-extinguish when exposed to a small open-flame ignition source

Size 9 months or smaller clothing that does not exceed 64.8 centimeters (25.75 inches) in length for a one-piece garment, or 40 centimeters (15.75 inches) in length for a two-piece garment is exempt from sleepwear regulations

Design Suggestions:

Use plain surface fabric over 2.6 oz such as cotton poplin or interlock

Avoid sheer fabrics such as rayon skirts and silk scarves

Avoid 100% cotton fleece and terry cloth fabrics

Use synthetic blend with natural fibers

Phew! That's a lot of rules to remember. Let's try to make it easier by focusing on what's important.

Keep in mind that the regulations to consider are determined by the use of your products. For example, hats exclude certain tests such as flammability because they can be removed fairly easily from a child in the case of a fire.

Interpretation of CPSC guidelines is up to individual companies. Larger retail chains or department stores may have more testing guidelines or require use of approved testing facilities, because they are bigger targets for lawsuits than smaller shops. As a small business, the easiest way to ensure your products are safe is by taking precautions while sourcing. The United States have strict standards that keep dangerous materials from production and off the market, so it pays to source domestically. If your components are imported or manufactured overseas, ask your supplier questions.

We sat down with industry experts and top apparel manufacturers to create this free email course that walks you through the sample-making process from the first product sketch to your final production sample and all the details in between. Start working towards your first sample today!

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