Childrens Designer Clothes

Lanvin Petite: Are Designer Clothes For Children Really That Nefarious?

Last week, luxury label Lanvin debuted its new line for girls ages 5 to 10. The dresses — all pink ruffles and tiered chiffon and dreamlike confections — were adorable, as were the kiddies modeling them for the company’s lookbook, which featured little girls jumping out of shopping bags and carrying dolls with matching Lanvin outfits.

Still, the idea of Lanvin for kids perturbed some critics. Some groused that spending hundreds of dollars on a silk trench for a 5-year-old is impractical , since she will grow out of it in six months — and probably spill something on it, rip it or destroy it some other way before then. Others saw Lanvin’s foray into childrenswear as downright nefarious. One blogger called it “ unethical “; another, an example of capitalism run amok .

Yet, such outrage is a little … odd. After all, luxury labels have long created and sold clothes for kids.  The Costume Institute at the Metropolitan Museum of Art has some Christian Dior children’s pieces dating back to the 1950s. The American couturier Charles James — known for his sexy, structured ballgowns worn by the likes of strip-tease artist Gypsy Rose Lee — also peddled pint-sized fashions during that time. And sportswear designer Claire McCardell made adorable mother-daughter ensembles for her clientele in the ’40s. But it was, ehem, Jeanne Lanvin (the founder of the House of Lanvin) who really revolutionized the idea of high-end children’s clothes with the fashions she made for her daughter Marguerite. Indeed, Lanvin had a childrenswear line before she started selling couture for adults.

Jeanne Lanvin (born 1867) started out as a milliner in Paris during the late 19th and early 20th century. But she was also a skilled dressmaker and made exquisite, ornately detailed clothing for her young daughter. At the time, children essentially dressed like miniature adults, wearing elaborate dresses with corsets and multiple skirts, dainty, lace-up boots and ridiculous hats and lace gloves. Lanvin eschewed the restrictive silhouettes of those clothes and made loose dresses for Marguerite to allow for easy movement, but she used the most luxurious fabrics — silk taffeta, gold-spun lace, diaphanous chiffon — and liberally embellished her designs with intricate folk-inspired embroidery, silk flowers, lace ribbons and lots of ruffles.

Lanvin’s millinery customers went gaga over these whimsical frocks, and they asked the dressmaker to make duplicates of Marguerite’s outfits for their own children, which she did at first on a customer-to-customer basis. In 1908, Lanvin decided to launch her first formal collection of children’s clothes, with 25 pieces. A year later she debuted a line for adults, which also featured soft silhouettes and lots of adornment. For decades, the house’s ads featured a mother and daughter in complimentary outfits. Lanvin’s label to this day features an illustration of a woman holding hands with a little girl, based on a photograph of the designer and her daughter in inky black coats and tall hats, preparing to go to a costume ball.

Miniature Fashion Children's Designer Wear What To Wear

GUCCI, Burberry, Missoni, our small but perfectly formed progeny are getting increasingly luxurious tastes. Or, more to the point, we are on their behalf. Luxury designer clothing, gadgets and home wears for children are booming as parents – even throughout a recession – lavish increasing amounts on their little darlings.

According to the Datamonitor Group, a consumer research company, children’s wear in Europe is outperforming all other markets.

“We’ve experienced a significant growth in designer children’s wear over the last few years,” says Torly Grimshawe, Children’s merchandise manager at Harrods. It’s a similar story at online designer kid’s retailer Alex and Alexa. “We’ve grown 100 per cent every year since launching in 2007,” says CEO Alex Theophanous. “It’s a lifestyle statement.”

“New parents are very trend aware and dress their offspring as a ‘mini me’, to reflect their own style,” explains Lynn Crook, children’s buyer at Selfridges, where children’s wear and accessories is also being ramped up. “Customers are influenced by how celebrities dress their children. Also, children themselves through media streams such as TV, and magazines are keen to dress like their idols.”

It helps that today, every designer label worth their salt is launching children’s wear. Stella McCartney (following her hip children’s designs for Gap) launched her own kids line this year. Versace is set to launch children’s wear next year; Lanvin, the impossibly chic label designed by Alber Elbaz, is introducing children’s designs. They follow Gucci, Dior, Paul Smith (right) and Marc Jacobs.

Then there’s the accessories. Harrods just introduced a raft of new covetable brands to its children department including a glam £880 limited-edition Missoni Bugaboo pram (complete with matching knit blanket); luxury baby skincare products by Beginning, and hip baby bags from Pink Lining. They’re also stocking the 50th Anniversary limited edition Babybjörn, made with corduroy and floral fabric from its archives.

The trend has also transformed the way luxury children’s products are marketed. Forget cutesy pictures taken in studios, Burberry’s children’s campaigns are shot by Mario Testino. Gucci’s features Jennifer Lopez. Meanwhile, Alex and Alexa’s looks like a sophisticated glossy fashion magazine. What will your child be wearing this season?

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