Fashion houses have designs on youngsters

Fashion houses have designs on youngsters


Juliet Sandler dresses in $650 dresses and $400 shoes from Parisian fashion house Lanvin. Juliet is 3.

Her mother, Dara Sandler, says she dresses her daughter in the latest fashions because Juliet is a reflection of her — even though her daughter can’t spell the names of the designers, let alone pay for their clothes.
“I dress my daughter exactly the way I dress myself,” says the 33-year-old Manhattan mother, who spent $10,000 for her daughter’s summer wardrobe. She plans to spend a few thousand dollars more for fall.
Top fashion designers are pushing more expensive duds for the increasingly lucrative affluent toddler demographic. This fall, Oscar de la Renta, Dolce & Gabbana, and Marni launched collections. Luxury stores Nordstrom and Bergdorf Goodman are expanding their children’s areas for the newcomers, many of them with higher price tags. Late last year, Gucci, which launched a children’s collection two years ago, opened its first children’s store on Manhattan’s Fifth Avenue.
American households are expected to spend an average of $688 outfitting their children for school, says the National Retail Federation, and that includes supplies like pencils and notebooks.
That’s most families. Some will spend $795 on Gucci  backpacks or $1,090 on leopard print puffy coats from Lanvin.
Only five years ago, the high-end children’s wear business was dominated by just a few major designers such as Ralph Lauren, Burberry and Christian Dior. But the recent influx of others is the latest sign that affluent shoppers have gone back to splurging since the recession.
It’s a “mini-me” phenomenon, says Robert Burke, a New York-based fashion consultant: “It feels good. It’s like one for me and one for you.”
Sales growth
The trend isn’t limited to Manhattan or Beverly Hills, but is occurring in other big cities such as Boston and Chicago, he says. Sales of designer children’s wear are also strong in resort areas where retirees who tend to dote on their grandkids live, he says.