As any parent shopping for back-to-school clothes will attest, today`s kids develop a fashion sense at an early age.
More label- and style-conscious than ever, many children won`t put their feet into anything other than Nike high-tops and refuse to wear that outfit from Grandma because it`s just not hip enough.
Taking advantage of this fashion fussiness are many adult clothes manufacturers, who are filling ”a void in the market for better-designed children`s clothes,” says Sal Ruggiero, vice president and fashion director at Marshall Field & Co.
Although some adult lines have been making kids clothes for a long time
(Esprit, Polo/Ralph Lauren), others are relatively new to the market. Sandra Garratt, creator of Multiples-one-size, mix-and-match cotton knitwear for women-introduced her Multiples Kids line last year. And the Limited, the popular moderately priced women`s clothing chain, started the Limited Too for children aged 2 to 14 in late 1987. (The first Chicago-area Too store opened at Woodfield Mall last year.)
”Kids have a strong point of view,” says Susan O`Toole, operating executive of Limited Too. ”We offer clothing that they really like and Mom likes,” she says of the store`s fashions, which are essentially mini-versions of the outfits Mom can buy for herself at the Limited.
And apparently Mom and Dad have no one but themselves to blame (or credit) for their kids` finicky tastes. Ruggiero thinks it`s part of the
”yuppie phenomenon.
”Parents are paying attention to the way the whole family looks,” he says, so they wind up with little boys who have to have Polo shirts just like Dad. –
