A MINI YOU
Brands just aren’t the fad. If you and your toddler want to be on trend, you’ll have to go the artisanal route and personalise your little person, writes Marchelle Abrahams
IT’S the most bizarre thing. A commercial-free childhood has just become big business. Parents, opposed to putting their little ones in labels, but still concerned with the trends, have taken the idea of a unique, personalised way of being into the realm of absurdity.
To explain it crudely, it’s just not cool for your baby to be dressed in Power Puff Girl paraphernalia anymore, and it hasn’t been for a while.
Parents in the know have left behind the cartoon characters and generally branded clothing, opting for pretty stripes in organic cottons inside. (There are, of course, a handful of eco-conscious brands that have infiltrated this circle.)
Meanwhile, the over-arching trend across industries has been towards the highly artisanal. This has resulted in handmade toys, shoes and clothing, incorporating craft and other unique, stand-apart mediums.
Personalisation and tailoring are a part of this sub-culture. Personalised lunch boxes and designer nappies were among those items that began to enter the fold, and so the latest trend for babies is hyper-personalisation with a bizarre twist.
Chic mamas and papas are pimping their babies, the way you’d pimp your ride. There’s a mini-me connotation too, often when it comes to celeb tots.
Kim Kardashian and Coco Austin are dressing their mini mes in exact replicas of their outfits, and the rest of the world is following suit. On social media, there is a pageant of sorts.
Facebook page Fashion Baby Chic is a collection of posts and photos of babies wearing tailormade threads. And if you’re having a party – you’ll have to post a picture of the smoothie cups with little Sipho’s name on it.
The retail world has, of course, cottoned on and cashed in. A good example is the babyccino – the frothy drink took off in America in 2012.
Eater blog called it the “latest threat to US children”. The drink does not contain coffee, but a shot of decaf espresso served with steamed milk or foam.
One website – www. personalcreations.com – tugs at new parents’ heartstrings with newborn keepsakes, stocking everything from baby photo block cushions to personalised pewter plates.
There’s a huge market out there for parents and tots, and retailers are happy to oblige.
The question is: when the world is all about you – literally – from the moment you’re born, how do you ever escape your ego?