Designer, brand-name, and luxury merchandise for kids

[lele]

in forbes for Jan...

Rocks for Tots
Matthew Swibel, 01.12.04


Sign of a newly booming economy--or an incipient bubble: when luxury marketeers beef up their extravagant offerings for children. Check it out:

• A brat pack: Forget sending the precious princess off to school with an L.L. Bean backpack. Hermès is offering a girl's version of its coveted Kelly (as in Grace) bag for $2,150.

• Silver spoons aren't enough: Jewelry designer David Yurman, who typically sells items costing $600 and more to adults, has a Cable Kids line that features a gold necklace with diamonds ($495) and hoop earrings in sterling silver and 18kt gold with pearls ($225) for girls as young as 8.

• Taking "baby T" literally: Dolce & Gabbana is offering pint-size jackets and T shirts for the wee set. A shearling coat will set parents back $425. The hottest item at Chicago's Milani Boutique is D&G's kiddie military-style camouflage dress and matching boots, which together start at $500.


• Check, please: Think plaid's too stuffy for tots? Burberry is marketing a toddler-size boy's jacket ($185) and pants ($85) in its trademark pattern.

 

[PrinceOfCats]

There's a great website on children's fashion actually. I always forget what it's called but you find it if you search for 'Roberto Cavalli Angels'...

It's got loads of stuff by Cavalli and D&G...

 

[LadyIllusion]

PrinceofCats are u thinking of Villagekids.co.uk?

 

[PrinceOfCats]

I might be...I'm not sure

 

[Meg]

I wonder what the little girls' kelly bag will look like. It might be a nice alternative to the real thing!

I want kids manolo's and choo's. They will be cheaper and my feet can fit into them! come on.....

 

[tealady]

Originally posted by lele@Dec 29th, 2003 - 5:15 pm
in forbes for Jan...

Rocks for Tots
Matthew Swibel, 01.12.04


Sign of a newly booming economy--or an incipient bubble: when luxury marketeers beef up their extravagant offerings for children. Check it out:

• A brat pack: Forget sending the precious princess off to school with an L.L. Bean backpack. Hermès is offering a girl's version of its coveted Kelly (as in Grace) bag for $2,150.

• Silver spoons aren't enough: Jewelry designer David Yurman, who typically sells items costing $600 and more to adults, has a Cable Kids line that features a gold necklace with diamonds ($495) and hoop earrings in sterling silver and 18kt gold with pearls ($225) for girls as young as 8.

• Taking "baby T" literally: Dolce & Gabbana is offering pint-size jackets and T shirts for the wee set. A shearling coat will set parents back $425. The hottest item at Chicago's Milani Boutique is D&G's kiddie military-style camouflage dress and matching boots, which together start at $500.


• Check, please: Think plaid's too stuffy for tots? Burberry is marketing a toddler-size boy's jacket ($185) and pants ($85) in its trademark pattern.

Absolutely, positively absurd.

 

[meowmix]

Originally posted by mehg@Dec 29th, 2003 - 8:58 pm
I want kids manolo's and choo's. They will be cheaper and my feet can fit into them! come on.....

BRILLIANT!!!

When I went in to Burberry for a trench, I tried on the children's size and fit perfectly, except the sleeves were much too short...

 

[LadyIllusion]

 

[prettybabi11492]

do you buy abercrombie for your kids

and whats your opinion of the store

 

[clockwood]

i think it would be the equvialant of giving my kids crack... so no id never buy it for my kids

 

[snickerdoodles]

There's already a thread on this brand.

http://www.thefashionspot.com/forums/f60/abercrombie-fitch-11270.html

If you do a search for abercrombie a few other threads come up as well.

 

[faust]

i think it would be the equvialant of giving my kids crack... so no id never buy it for my kids

well put (I was going to write, "I buy it for my enemies' kids," but your wording is way better)

 

[PrinceOfCats]

I'm a kid - I think I'd resort to crack if my parents bought me clothes from Abercrombie & Fitch...

...and that's not just because being bought anything by one's parents is a disturbing experience.

 

[jennifer~]

Both my parents have yet to confess their knowledge of the store's existence... but the awkward silences are revealing enough.

 

[expedition]

My parents bought me Abercrombie when I was a bit younger and still would if I were to ask them. A&F was the COOLEST brand when I was in high school. I went to an all girls school and we loved abercrombie!

 

[ibimus]

Designer kids?

I work in a gift shop for a major tourist attraction here in DC (hey, it's a paycheck. ), and we get a lot of highschool field trips in. I've seen several teens (about my age, 16, 17.) carrying (authentic) LVs, Fendi, and even Chanel.

So I'm curious. What do you think about this? Do you feel that teens should be given such expensive bags like this? (it's pretty obvious the ones we get in don't work jobs of their own...) How do you feel about giving kids/teens designer anything?

I always thought a reasonable way to start was something from Dooney & Burke or Coach for any teens, as a start into the world of fabulous bags. It's not exactly high-end fahsion, but it's better than what you find at Wal*Mart. That would also be a good (and slightly cheaper) way to teach them about caring for pricier items, before they get into major fashion.

Your thoughts?

 

[Diorling]

You work at Pentagon City? Ive seen these chicks, normally thier LV is fake, when it is real it's normally thier mothers. I hate the touristes, really, it ruins the whole mall, take them to The Pavillion or someting sh*tty, not Pentagon City which is a really good mall.

Of course there are the nouveau riche parents that buy thier kids ANYTHING just to let people know how wealthy they are when in reality I couldn't care less if you have a Speedy...Or there are the parents w/ no backbone what-so-ever. And Im so glad my parents didn't give me absolutely everything I wanted because then Id be like Paris Hilton, completely useless and no aspirations in life.

I agree about the whole age-appropriate bags...

 

[Whitelinen]

Here it is about teenagers bulk-buying Burberry and Victoria Beckham for Rock&Republic thinking they are chic, mixed with DKNY logo handbags. I worked for some time in a department store in the men's section, and I could see the parents' frustration and agony while their 16-year-old son just can't live without a Burberry check umbrella.

I do think a lot of teens just buy these things because they are hip and the LV monogram bag looked just like soooo cute. They dump them after it's not hip anymore. If their parents can afford this, then ok, but personally I see designer bags as an investment. Something that shouldn't be rushed and that should be bought to last.

I'd also like to express that all teenagers aren't like this. I know teenagers who have been starting to build their "classic designer handbag wardrobe" (Chanel 2.55, Hermès Birkin / Kelly...) right now, and they put a lot of thought to it. And also mostly make the money themselves. Albeit these teens are mostly a little bit more mature or at least more fashion-forward than others. There are teenagers who can appreciate quality over what's hip. It is true that teens like to experiement more, but classics are hardly an experiement.

If a teenager can appreciate the quality and sees the handbag as something she's going to wear over years, that is acceptable. But buying designer on your parents' money like it's H&M is wrong.

 

[ibimus]

WhiteLinen, you're very right. there are teens who buy designer becuase of the quality rather than the logo. Sadly, there aren't more of them.

 

[kanita]

That is something you don't see here. All kids, no mather how rich there parents are, work for there money. People don't like to show that they are rich (at least not in the north/east of the Netherlands)
Kinds don't get a car for there birthday, and when you are over 18, and you still live with your parents, you pay THEM for being alowed to live with them. On the other hand, kinds don't give anything to there parents when they get old.
This is something I really don't like. It is another way of being money obsessed. I would buy my kids expencive stuff, if I could, why not. Buying your kids expencive stuff, if you have the means, is not the same as having spoiled kids. It is how you raise them. I would never buy them a LV logo purce, it is hidious. I like kids to be stylish, not dress in a way that would make them ''fit in'.

Maybe this is my opinion because I was raised in a way that money isn't an issue, it is not important how much you spend, it is how you are as an person. Not that I got expencive stuff as a kid, My parents couldn't afford anything more that second hand stuff for us (Me, my sis and little brother) and for themselves. ( I guess, we were sporting the the vintage trend before everyone else, so we were very fashion forward ) We never everr mid, we always looked cute. My mother bought us what she could, ad she also would if she had an million.