The hot potato of stereotyping has reared it's ugly head again. This time yet another retailer has been adding inappropriate slogans to clothing. Alongside the argument about short shorts for girls and long shorts for boys (http://binkiesandbriefcases.com/dessing-our-daughters/) and who can wear which colour and play with which toys.
I have a lot to say about all this to be honest, but for blogging I'll try and keep it brief.
In 2016 we have choice thrust upon us at every turn. You can have a latte, a short latte, a tall latte, a skinny latte, a grande latte, a latte with soy milk, goats milk, cows milk, hot milk, cold milk, no milk, topped with cream or gold shavings, chocolate soil or pixie dust with a splash of caramel or amaretto or gingerbread.... it goes on. So why in this age of choice is there often no choice when it comes to kids clothing?
Often the problem lies in the unbridged gap between the design and development teams and the people at the top. In a nutshell sadly the people at the top who make all the final decisions get so carried away with making money that sometimes they lose their grip on reality and get swept away in a tide of their own hype. We're only small here so I'm pretty sure that'll never happen to us.
Our kids bodies don't start changing shape until 8 or 9 years old. I know from experience that my 7 year old daughter & 5 year old son like doing exactly the same things. They both like to swim, climb, kick a ball, throw, dance, cartwheel generally just fool about. Why should my daughter be taught from an early age that she is to be restricted by clothing which is too tight and short? Doesn't she deserve the same message as my son? I certainly think so. Cotton jersey wins hands down in my house.
It's really important to give a positive message to kids and parents by offering clothing which isn't cut differently for each gender. Our range is always designed with wearability for both sexes and we don't have a boys and girls section because we like to think our customers can decide for themselves.
We don't do slogans because lets face it...babies can't read, we are a global brand and a picture is a less complex and more inclusive way to communicate. if we did do slogans they'd be age appropriate to the wearer not the parent. About tractors and milk not beer and boyfriends.
Then there's colour, I've been through the whole range of emotions about the colour pink since I had a daughter. I embraced, hated, ignored, accepted, used it to our advantage and have been repulsed by it over the last 7 years. Mostly I hated it. I'm at peace with pink now, because you know what, sometimes only a pink shoe will do, in the same way that sometimes only a green shoe will do. We don't purposely exclude pink because we are not the colour police. It has a place alongside all the other amazing colours on the spectrum. We offer a choice, which includes pink *other colours are available too*. Again, our customers can decide for themselves because they are smart people.
I live between the UK and Singapore these days and what's interesting about life in Singapore is that 'Pink' isn't even a thing here. I took a photo on a family day out this weekend, there must have been 100 people or more and 3 were wearing pink tops and they were all men. The only other pink was a hot pink handbag. The array of colours here is wonderful. More colour, better outlook. Happy days.
While I steer this ship, I promise we won't promote sexuality or encourage stereotypical behaviour. We will never sell bras for 8 year olds or denim jeans for babies.
Our new (small) range of clothing is out next week, 100% cotton jersey, easy on, easy off, one shape fits both genders. from 0 to 6 years. We hope you like it, we do, and so do my kids.
Catherine.
