Christmas press show

On Thursday, Junior viewed a sample of the Autumn/Winter ’09 collection from Couverture. The vibrant colours and styles of the range will cheer up anyone’s winter blues. They stock a series of womens, homeware and childrenswear with a variety of toys for young children and babies. Lots of animal-inspired knitted jumpers and colourful patterns are in store for the childrens’ clothing, whilst accessories focus on animal nightlights and stuffed toys.

Sunuva is a new range of children’s swimwear and beachwear created by Mums for other Mums. The items are comfortable, quick to dry and offer a UV protection of factor 50+. The range includes bikinis, swimsuits, trunks, shirts, dresses and kaftans.

International make-up artist and skincare expert Kim Jacob has launched Angelique, a natural skincare collection for mothers, babies and children. Only natural ingredients are used and the products are safe and beneficial for mother and baby.

More Christmas shows!

Modus

The Christmas show at Modus today presented Junior with different collections of children’s fashion;
Calvin Klein Kids range offers bomber jackets in various colours teamed with velvets, knits and denims. Girls’ clothes were in pinks and navy tones and the boys range took a less lively choice of grey and navy.
Tu at Sainsbury’s displayed a range of sleepwear, knitwear and party dresses. Warm accessories and pretty sequin ballet shoes shown to match. In true Christmas form, a series of seasonal fancy dress was shown including Santa, snowmen and reindeer.
Minnetonka Moccasin displayed mens’ and womens’ shoes and incorporated these adorable children’s boots (above) which were extremely popular with all at the event so are sure to be a big hit for the winter.

BHS

Yesterday saw the launch of the BHS Christmas collection in Marylebone, London. The children’s section of the show was filled with toys and games for Christmas gift ideas for boys and girls. However, there was one display giving a glimpse of what to except for partywear at BHS(above). Any girl would feel every bit the perfect princess in this flowing peach dress with silver pumps.

The toys consisted of Hello Kitty, teddies, dolls and make-up with lots of keyring stocking fillers with lip glosses and mirrors attached. Typical boys’ toys were displayed, the assortment of cars and sporting games would take any boy’s fancy.

Christmas press shows

On Tuesday, Next and Debenhams invited Junior to view their Autumn/Winter '09 collections in London.


Debenhams

The new children’s collection focuses on partywear, pinstripe shirts for boys and party dresses for the girls. Girls’ clothing comes mainly in vibrant reds and pinks whilst the boy’s collection opt for more monotone shades of grey and purple.
Knitted accessories and sleepwear are also popular pieces with snug scarves and slippers to keep warm for the winter.
There were also some great children’s gift ideas of toys and books for boys and girls of all ages with all items presented in a traditional Christmas theme of red, gold and silver.

Next

Childrenswear from baby to teenager had a section full of Christmas stock including footwear and accessories. The show was broken down into sections of different clothing and homeware. Six rails showed the variety of sizes and ages available in kids clothing.
Babies and tots clothes were full of spots, stripes and stars. There were many fleeced items including seasonal inspired reindeer, bear, penguin, and Santa outfits. The young girls’ collection consisted of knitwear and boots whilst the older girls’ display was party proms and comfy coats. Boys clothing was an array of checks in shirts and trousers but for the older ages trendy biker jackets and chunky knit cardies set the scene.
Maternity clothing is a range of various floral and print dresses and different styles of jeans.

Vintage fashion comes to Mothercare

From this month, Mothercare will launch the children’s clothes range, Their Nibs, in selected stores and online. This range is a favourite with celebrities such as Kate Moss, Sadie Frost and Mark Owen and offers unique and eclectic prints and fabrics aged from newborn girls to eight years old.

“The dresses are just lovely… adorable”
Kate Moss

“I love Their Nibs clothes because they make little girls look like little girls”
Thandie Newton

Tiered woven rompers and pretty vintage dresses for only £26 make the perfect outfits for baby girls this Summer. For older girls, vintage print dresses and skirts in toadstool and fairy designs or fifties’ style fashion dresses are available at only £36.

Their Nibs is available now from www.mothercare.com or the following stores:
Brent Cross, Bluewater, Oxford Street, Edmonton, Manchester (out of town), Chester, Stoke, Aberdeen, Denton.

KIDSpace - First Birthday Celebration

KIDSpace the luxury children’s clothing shop has just celebrated their first birthday.

Celebrations were held at their Sloane Street boutique where guests were treated to traditional Italian ice cream and pampered in the stores luxury VIP area.

A modeling competition also took place to choose new faces for the Parrot and Miss Blumarine Jeans advertising campaigns.

Kidspace, 201 Sloane Street, London SW1X 9QX

Enquiries: 020 7235 3730

www.kidspace.it

Kids Fashion Week 2009 opens in Dubai

As part of DSS 2009 (Dubai Summer Surprises), Kids Fashion Week opened on Friday 24th July in Deira City Centre, the most visited mall in Dubai. The eleventh year of the annual DSS festival shows the same treats, surprises and events around Dubai all Summer only this year they are bigger and better than ever. Packed crowds of shoppers watched as models aged between 4 and 10 marched down the catwalks wearing the latest trends from international children’s fashion brands including United Colors of Benetton, Okaidi and Giordani Kids. This year Kids fashion week themes include School’s out, Sporty, Fun and Funky and I’m So Cool. During the shows, talent scouts will be looking for the catwalks next stars and selecting ‘the best kiddie model in town’.
Shows will be held at 6.30pm every evening until 30th July.

Alexandalexa.com give you a sneak preview of their autumn/winter lookbook

to see more visit http://www.alexandalexa.com/AW09/

Selfridges Christmas Press Show

Today was Selfridges Christmas Press show, held at their exhibition hall on London’s Oxford Street. From girl’s prom dresses to comfortable knits, Selfridges will have all you need this Christmas for perfect gift ideas! A favourite of mine, was a Sonia Rykiel purple knit dress, which is available for ages 2-10 and retails at £125. Great for those Christmas parties!... but the Galliano biker jacket for boys was the stand out item, retailing at £405 and is available for ages 2-10. This season Juicy Couture have cute velour tote bags, moneyboxes and bracelets. All in Juicy’s signature pink and girly style so you can mix and match to create the perfect gift!
Others featured in Selfridges Top ten children’s gifts this season include Tyrell cats pjamas hand puppets and toy dinosaurs.

From left: Red prom dress £35 by Lucy Locket (ages 4-8); Eagle print t-shirt £45 by Finger in the nose (ages 2-10); Leather jacket £405 by John Galliano (ages 2-10); Gold dress with lace and bow detail £189 by David Charles (ages 2-10); Purple dress £125 by Sonia Rykiel (ages 2-10); Green dragon £44.99 by The puppet company; Toy dinosaur £35; Bracelet £85 by Juicy Couture; Tote bag £95 by Juicy Couture; Pyjamas £25 by Tyrell cats (ages 2-10).

Posted by Louise Elizabeth Todd

M&S Christmas press day!

Today Junior went to Marks & Spencer’s 2009 christmas press day. Held at Two Temple Place on the banks of the River Thames.
Visitors were greeted by a life-sized snowman made out of flowers; The entrance was decorated like a mystical grotto leading into the elegant historic room where the new range of childrens toys and clothing were on display. The new Christmas range had a focus on party wear satin dresses and fur boleros for the girls and tweed for the boys featuring waistcoats and blazers.
Knitwear was also a key trend with slippers, cardigans and hats to keep your tots cosy this winter! Each year M&S launch Christmas costumes for the children’s range and this year they didn’t fail!.....from Christmas puddings to Santa’s elf’s all you need to get you into the Christmas spirit.

Marks and spencers infamous retro sweets were relaunced once again this year. From double decker bus biscuit tins to a selection of liquorice allsorts a perfect Christmas gift for all the family!

LOVE FOOD hate waste is a new campaign Marks and spencers are launcing which aims to reduce food waste by 40%, and can save about £20 per month for the average family – Visit the website for lots of tips and more information.

All ranges available to buy from September.
http://www.marksandspencer.com/

Posted by Louise Elizabeth Todd

Monnalisa opens new boutique in the heart of the Big Apple

Italian childrenswear company, Monnalisa established in 1968. Known for its classic collections, and distributing to over 50 countries worldwide. Monnalisa has just successfully opened a new boutique in New York. The store looks lavish, and compliments the collection beautifully and is perfectly located on the famous Third Avenue, not far from Central Park.



MONNALISA

22West, 21st street

New York
USA

Posted by Louise Elizabeth Todd

Kiss Katch Wraps Up Warm with the NEW A/W09 Collection!

Today Junior ventured to the press launch of Kiss Katch A/W 09 collection. Known for its comfy versatile garments with practical and girly edge. This collection certainly lives up to its name. The second season terri towling is replaced with the softest coziest velour. Created especially for those cold wintery days, so your little one can snuggle up in style!
Designer Tori has paid the highest attention to every detail: contrasting bindings; polka dot lined tops; and tonal embroidery all combine to create a range that is simply gorgeous and looks fabulous!You can shop online at www.kisskatch.co.uk to keep up to date with their latest news and trends.

Above: Beanie Hat £12; Scarf £12 and fingerless gloves £14; pink velour top £39; (ages 2-10)

www.kisskatch.co.uk
For more information, visit the website!

Posted by Louise Elizabeth Todd

What I found today

From top; Floral print bag £40 by Lale; 3 nest cute suitcases in a choice of four colours £20 by Petit Jour; Orange and Green canvas bag £35 by Lale; Pink tin lunch box £12 by Lake Farm all available from www.eliasandgrace.com

Posted by Louise Elizabeth Todd

Christmas Press Shows

This week has been filled with more Christmas press shows which the Junior team have made their way around.
At the start of the week we went to Flax PR’s press day where we got to see new collections from brands such as Drake’s, which have a lovely collection of cashmere tartan scarves, and Petit Bateau, who had some festive t-shirts in a marl grey and powder blue, complete with pictures reindeers and Santa. They also had some large Robin redbreast stockings in traditional green and red. What’s more, we got a preview of a new brand Flax are representing called JME, another from the genius Jamie Oliver, which consisted of tree decorations, and of course, kitchen favourites like the cookie making kit. Our favourites from JME are the fox and owl decorations which are made from wooden twig-like material, giving them a real homemade feeling.
This week, also went to the Early Learning Centre’s press show, which had some excellent toys that kept us distracted for a while. They also had an adorable cosy cream, all in one for babies and a dusky pink party dress with detailed buttons. We also liked the plum purple satin dress for the girls, as well as the Christmas must-have; a Santa outfit.
Junior also went along to Littlewoods’ website re-launch, Very, where celebrities such as Peaches Geldof, Holly Wiloughby and Fearne Cotton, join with designers Preen and PPQ. Very have some colourful children’s clothes in reds and pinks for girls, and blues and khakis for the boys, all displayed on a little wooden swing and swinging tyre.
Monsoon had a Russian theme running through their collections, with outfits called Natalia and Anastasia and bags shaped like iconic Russian dolls.
The White Company’s press day was held in St. Martins Lane Hotel. The room was filled with the comforting scents from candles and aromatherapy oils. The collections consisted of chunky children’s knits and cashmere garments.
The last show of the week was French Connection, held at their Camden office. The Christmas collection featured some gorgeous party dresses, one of which was velvet with bow detailing and another that was sleeveless and covered in pink sequins- perfect for those Christmas parties. French Connection also allowed us a sneaky peak at their Spring/Summer 10 collection, which concentrates on children’s designs rather than their current mini-me designs- something to look forward to.

Top image: The children's display at Very

Middle image: Early Learning Centre's dusky pink dress

Bottom image: Early Learning Centre's cream all in one

Posted by: Laura Chatterton

Blow presents...Juniors

London PR company Blow has organised a special interactive event for children aged five to eleven in London Fashion Week on September 19th. This exclusive event is designed to allow youngsters learn a few of the skills involved in the fashion industry, such as design and photography.
There will be a number of exciting workshops available on the day including, t-shirt printing, jewellery making, clothes customizing and styling, all under the watchful eye of industry professionals, such as fashion designer Scott Wilson, the photography group ‘We Are Photo Girls’ and children’s charity Kidsco.
To end this action-packed day, the children will also be given the opportunity to show-off what they have created with a special catwalk show so they can sashay down the runway wearing their new designs.
The event will be held at the Royal Festival Hall on 19th September. The tickets are very limited, so contact Lauren Martin by emailing lauren@blow.co.uk or phoning 02074369449, for more information.

Posted by: Laura Chatterton

Press Days

The Junior fashion team spent yesterday darting from one press show to another, seeing what the is on offer for children for Christmas.
Our first visit was to Centrepoint, where we saw H. Samuel, Chamilia, and Ernest Jones’ Christmas collections. Held on the 31st floor, we were momentarily distracted by the breath-taking view, but once we got back to business we spotted a few stunning children’s tiaras, feather and diamante hairslides and a ‘Little Princess’ collection, featuring silver hairbrush, with a matching comb and trinket box from H. Samuel.
Our final trip of the day was to Caramel, in Notting Hill, where they were celebrating their 10th birthday. With model Natalia Vodianova and her gorgeous, blonde haired daughter, Neva as guests of honor.
There were fairies and a balloon man as well as an old-fashioned ice-cream truck. To read more about this event read the September issue of Junior, which features an interview with the owner of the boutique, Ava and Natalia.

Posted by: Laura Chatterton

Children design for Donatella

Donatella Versace has given young children the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to create drawings that could be used on bags, for her Italian fashion house. Donatella took a trip to New York this week, to visit an art workshop, which is raising money for children in the USA and China, with life threatening illnesses.
The day was the designer’s idea and the designs will be fashioned on canvas bags and sold in her boutiques across the world.

Posted by: Laura Chatterton

Pitti Bimbo 69

Pitti Bimbo 69, held at Fortezza da Basso, last week, had promising attenIdance rates with over 7000 buyers turning up. There has been a fall in the numbers of international attendees, due to travel budget cuts; however, the Italians definitely made up for this, showing hopeful signs of an end to this recession. Raffaello Napoleone, CEO of Pitti Immagine said “This was a good edition of Pitti Bimbo”. The starting point for the trends, fabrics and new colours for Spring/Summer 10, Pitti was filled with the top buyers and press for children’s fashion from around the world. There was a big fall in numbers in January 09, from 10 084 to 8600, but this time the drop wasn’t quite so drastic.
Pitti has also received positive feedback from many of its attendees, such as the representatives from Harrods, Barney’s, Saks Fifth Avenue (Dubai) and Galeries Lafayette (Paris). “This seems to be a very good edition of Pitti Bimbo,” says Annalise Quest, buyer at Harrods “going around the stands it does seem a bit quieter than others, but I am getting a very positive impression, and the exhibitors are showing beautiful collections.”
The layout of Pitti Bimbo was also credited, “The layout for showing the collections is excellent and I am seeing lots of interesting new names that we always look for to carry in our stores,” Helen Abraha, buyer at Harvey Nichols in Saudi Arabia. Even during the recession, new children’s fashion brands are still managing to pop up and grab buyer’s attention. A promising conclusion that children’s fashion is still going strong, even in these tough times.

Image: Moncler stand at Pitti Bimbo June 2009

Posted by Laura Chatterton