20 November 2009,
Habib of Sharjah is barely seven months old and wears a Swarovski crystal-encrusted babygro with the logo “VIB — Very Important Baby.” His pacifier has his name inscribed on it and so has his bib. His cousin, Sara, who turns one on December 1, wears gold and diamond trinkets, a pink tutu made from yards of frothy tulle, and gem-studded hairclips. Her lavish outfit comes with an equally extravagant price tag.
Designer dresses, hip hats and fabulous footwear, you could be mistaken for thinking you were on the front row at a fashion show. But not quite. This is the world of today’s über cool
toddlers, where the onesie is designer-made and posh tots and their haute mamas fuss about everything that’s chic and oh-so-hip, darling.
Emirati Camelia Mohebi came up with the idea of selling designer clothes for tots in 2006 after spending several weekends searching the UAE’s malls for just the right baby gift for her newborn niece. Frustrated by the lack of affordable hip and stylish merchandise for children, Mohebi opened Baby Bling, a children’s couture boutique in Dubai. The store specialises in unique, one of a kind, hard to find bling things for the little prince and princess in your life.
Items available include an 18-carat gold and diamond pacifier, priced at Dh20,000; cheaper versions with Swarovski crystals costing between Dh2,500 and Dh6,500 are also available. Gift hampers ranging from Dh500 to Dh5,000 and personalised bibs spelling out a baby’s name in crystals for Dh850 are among the items to tempt moneyed parents.
“I have around 12 nieces and nephews, so it’s not difficult for me to know what the latest trend and designs are for children. In the early 80s, my father started the Mamacare clothing line for kids and we used to wear blingy outfits. I remember a picture of me at the Trade Centre with Shaikh Mohammed and I was wearing a blingy outfit. We are a unique concept in Dubai,” she says.
“It’s very exciting for new parents to make their babies look lovely and take photographs. Obviously, the child does not know what he or she is wearing. It’s more for us. We feel excited and proud to make him look gorgeous,” says Rehana Habib, baby Ahmed’s mother.
These designer baby outfits are not for everyday wear and are only worn on special occasions, like a grandfather’s dinner party, a baby shower or a family wedding.
“I dress Sara in her ‘Lil Miss UAE’ babygro when we go out shopping or to a friend’s home because people ask me where I purchased it. She grows out of her clothes so quickly that I want to make optimum use of my purchases,” says Sabiha Sultan, Sara’s mother.
Mohebi says dressing up babies in fine clothes and gems is part of Arabic culture, as gold was traditionally given as a gift to babies and their families many years ago. “Arabs love opulence and bling. It has been part of our culture for centuries — and babies are your windows for fashion accessories. Look at Angelina Jolie or Katie Holmes, everyone’s doing it. There is a market for baby chic here. I have sold at least 15 pacifiers worth Dh20,000 made from both gold and silver in the past one year so; obviously, people want it. My clients are mostly Khaleeji women, and even Indians are good buyers,” she says.
Today, designers are getting more creative and playful when it comes to outfits for infants and toddlers. When it comes to cuteness, they know that you can never have too much. Lately, childrenswear designers have been reaching into their bag of tricks to give moms some seriously loveable baby clothes.
After adopting three children from Sierra Leone in 2007, Jodie Hampshire, proprietor of Aunty Ollie, a designer-couture website based in the UAE, knew she wanted to dress her little ones in stylish, creative clothes, and she didn’t want them to look the same as everyone else. She took matters into her own hands and www.auntyollie.com was born in May 2009 with her first range released for Spring/Summer 2009.
The Aunty Ollie range is based on vintage-inspired prints and classic styles, with clothes for boys and girls up to 10 years old. The Autumn/Winter 2009 range is now available with prints featuring apples, cherries, birds, stripes, aeroplanes, motorbikes and even lizards and dinosaurs.
Hampshire’s most expensive item of kiddie clothing is the Whodunnit Trench Coat, which sells for around Dh370.
“My customers are a diverse bunch who are dotted all around the world. The thing they have in common is that they don’t want to dress their kids like everyone
else; they seek out interesting clothes. Some of the funniest comments are from mums of little boys who are obsessed with cars, train or planes and who tend to sleep in their Little Man shirts the first few days,” says Hampshire.
“In the last month or so, I’ve had time to look at stockists and now I have one in the UK and two in Australia, with more to come. I’m going to try to get some UAE stockists on board in the next couple of months. Up next is a baby range for Summer 2010 including bibs, nappy covers and more,” she says.
You will find everything you
need for your pampered and coutured baby at the Dubaibabies kiosks at Mercato Mall and Mall of the Emirates.
“We source unique, innovative and luxurious baby products and gift items from all over the globe and make them available here in
the UAE,” says Jenny Haddad,
managing director of Db Babies Trading LLC, the owner of websites DubaiBabies.com and DubaiMumsClub.com.
“We currently stock over 40
different brands, from newborn baby sleeping bags to organic baby skincare products and BPA-free baby bottles. Our products attract mums and gift givers from all over the UAE.
“I’m a mum, so I have first-hand experience of what products are missing from the market and what the trends are for baby products.
As my daughter grew from a newborn to a toddler, we have been adding various products which are more suitable for older babies and now carry a line of cotton dresses from the US, finished with Swarovski crystals and cute slogans such as ‘Papa’s Princess’, from 12 months right up to six years,” adds Haddad.
Gift baskets of varying sizes are also available at her store, with prices rocketing to Dh1,100 for a large basket.
The most popular selling items lately have been baby slings and nursing covers. While DubaiBabies sells some from the US, AnnaPi — custom-made slings — were created out of a need by Anja Vinter, a mother of three. “Last year, I gave birth to my third child named Anna. At that time, I found many things I needed for her like slings were missing in Dubai. I started sewing them for her and then realised that there were other mums looking for the same things,” she says.
AnnaPi is focused on meeting the needs of mothers caring for their babies, while also being stylish. The main items it sells are the baby carrier ring slings, the breastfeeding/ nursing covers and the breastfeeding pillows. All these are made in natural materials such as pure cotton and linen. Some pieces are individually designed to provide mums with unique items, where only one piece with a certain design is made. A personalised sling with the name and date of birth of the child embroidered onto it has been in demand recently.
Vinter also designed the AnnaPi Love Doughnut soft toy, hairclips that do not damage the fine hair or scalp of a baby and colourful cotton bibs with no plastic. The AnnaPi Love doughnut got its name as it looks like a colourful doughnut with a heart in the centre. All around the outside of the doughnut are small, colourful ribbons for the baby to explore.
“When my daughter, Anna, was born I was carrying her almost all day and night and started looking for slings to help ease my sore shoulders and arms. I could not find any and decided that I would make one. The whole way through safety, style and comfort for the baby and mother have been essential to me, so I carefully select my materials and only use approved and safety tested sling rings. Now, I can’t live without my sling. I always have it in the car and use it whenever I go shopping or need to pick up the elder kids from school. It is always great to use when I travel,” says Vinter.
Saina Raja Sama uses Love Chic Baby, the luxurious fresh scents designed exclusively for little ones. The delicate scent covers Roshaan, her 13-month-old son. Designed for girls and boys from six months to teens, each scent comes in a designer bottle. With intricate detailing and packaging, each fragrance also has glass heart-shaped beads that float freely inside the bottle. Love Chic Baby perfumes are safe for children as they have been tested, say the makers. “We don’t have our own range of baby perfumes manufactured here, so I order online for my son. It’s important that he smells good. Sometimes kids can smell sour, so I feel he has to
smell perfect as well as look perfect,” says Sama.
Thought trendy slipcovers were only for your designer sofa? Not so. Today’s pampered babes are relaxing in style with designer-print, fitted covers for infant carriers,
car seats and strollers. Multi-coloured plush paisleys, smart stripes, playful plaids and chic chenille have overtaken the basic black and navy fabrics. There are babies who sport some serious shine on strollers, too.
You name it, from bitty bodysuits and sweet sweaters, to trendy tees and lovely layettes, anything goes. Hues are happy with bright, standout fonts: think curly lime green initials adorning a pink polka dot dress, or tangy tangerine block letters bouncing off a chocolate striped top. This creative, colourful craze also extends to must-have mommy accessories like diaper bags, burp cloths, wipe holders and even stroller hoods.
Never before has baby cute-ture been so dazzling. Baby bling is sparkling across the pink-meets-blue universe.
Babies make a statement
Nostalgia: In times of stress and uncertainty, people yearn for the comfort and safety of ‘the good old days’ and seek simpler, old school things. This trickles through to baby and kids clothes. For example, lots of retro logos are now seen on kids clothes, baby onesies and T-shirts. This retro style also allows parents to inject some of their personality and style into their child’s wardrobe.
Ethics: Whether it’s organic clothing, ethically-produced clothing or buying from shops with a social conscience, babywear is a clothes market where people really do make a concerted effort to think about what they buy.
Ruffles: This relates just to girls, but every designer and mum in the know is putting rows of ruffles on their nappy covers, shorts and pants for little ladies. They look super cute, too.
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