sep, 30th - une belle époque....

day 1328 / 427:

 a big sorry about the tumbleweed around this blog lately......i have been concentrating on the third baby for awhile and struggling to balance it all.....

the third baby, is a small, online shop for kids clothes. i started working on the idea with my sister when Limi was less that two and many of the clothes that her and Claya wear are samples from the collection. i wanted to create a range that was heavily influenced by French simplicity and English detail but still accessibly priced. mainly, this came about from struggling to find simple, clothes for the girls made from good quality fabrics but also a stronger need to find a good balance between career and motherhood.....

my sister and I grew up in a small town in South Africa. our mother is a brilliant seamstress and we loved designing our own outfits (there wasn't much variety in our local shops) which she would then sew up for us. i have always loved the process of sketching a design, selecting fabric, watching that fabric be folded and cut and then going through the various fittings until you have a finished piece. this love of creating our own designs hasn't faded over the years and when my sister moved to Hong Kong, we had the perfect environment to continue creating bespoke pieces with access to amazing, natural fabric, trimmings and wonderful seamstresses.

after having Limi, I struggled to find pieces that weren't branded or pink....so, we decided to try some samples and  from there une belle époque grew and i slowly cemented what i wanted to focus my energy on. we created the first range using our trusted seamstress in China but since then, we have decided to move most of the production to the UK and I am working with small manufacturing workshops in East London to expand the range. 

I am loving every aspect of creating this small company from designing and creating the  products through to the development of the website and fun of packaging. i have a strong idea of where i want this brand to go.....it's now, just about figuring out the path to get there.....

if you would like to take a look, the site is une belle époque

p.s. for the month of October, we are offering free shipping worldwide. if you are based in the UK use 'freeukshipping' and for everyone outside of the UK, use 'freeworldwide', at checkout.

oct, 29th - h&m supports unicef....

day 989 / 88:

i am absolutely blown away by the kids collection that h&m did in support of unicef.....the clothes, the branding, this film and the causes that they are supporting: children in the cotton growing community in  Tamil Nadu, India and children in the garment making community in Dhaka, Banglabesh, all make this an incredible campaign. i couldn't resist half the collection....especially the dress-up pieces...and when it all arrived, I was especially impressed by the superb quality.

hopefully i'll get to capture more of the collection but this dress has to be my favourite non-dress-up item.

p.s. we've been following the news closely and i hope everyone is keeping safe in the US and other areas affected by the hurricane.