GrandirEnsemble

Designed and handmade: eco-friendly and smart baby clothes adapting—by creative extension—to different ages. Believe it or not, clothes “grow” as your child grows. This principle has many obvious advantages: temporal and economic, of course, but also affective, and ecological. If one garment serves for several years, instead of 3 months, raw materials are not wasted. This can result in the reduction of energy usage, air pollution, water pollution, and greenhouse gas emissions. (See William McDonough and Michael Braungart, Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things, 2002)

Recycling is a known concept: drop your recycling waste into the right bin and it will resurrect into a new product. Less known is what we can actively do, to reduce the cycle of waste production?
"Reduce, Reuse and Recycle:” What does that mean for my collection/ Grandire Ensemble?
Reduce: the concept that clothes can adapt—by extension—to different ages, allows for longer usage, which slows down the cycle of consumption and waste production.
Reuse: I use a creative combination of new and good-quality second hand / up cycled fabrics, often never used, top-notch fabrics found in grandmothers’ attics.
Recycle: I hope you will pass on / sell the garment to a next generation of kids—to make them comfortable and happy.

Many principles in-forming my collection emerged progressively during my training as a fashion designer in Germany and Switzerland while working on adult-fashion. As I had my first child, I became aware of the potential of my ideas for children as well, especially concerning prolongation. So, many pieces in the collection are actually based on clothes I designed especially for my kids (two and four years old). They are my wonderful photo models, and brutally honest reviewers. They test functionality and comfort and give life to the collection Grandir Ensemble.

Since I like to see boys not only in blue, and girls not only in pink, I started creating a unisex collection with fresh, new alternatives (the spectrum is endless!) in order to avoid fitting children in stereotypical and normative colors from the very start.

Beyond color, I also try to find out, by observing children from different ages, where their interests in design lie. I found out, for example, babies just love three-dimensional objects to play with. So, I started inserting magical figures within clothes; they emerge unexpectedly allowing babies to play in a creative, active, and imaginative way. Children play hide-and-seek with them and develop an affective and magical relation with their clothes that is quite unique. Creativity and imagination are qualities that need to be nourished from the very beginning—and what better than one’s clothes as a starting point?

It is a great pleasure to see babies and kids wear the clothes, play with/in them and feel comfortable. Success in design, for me means to generate clothes that are beautiful and allow for absolute freedom of movement and expression. If the body is free and uninhibited, the child will feel free also. Children hardly sit or stand. Instead they kneel, crawl, run and stretch in very flexible, dynamic ways. I’m convinced that in order to allow babies and children to feel comfortable, clothes need to be designed especially for their needs.

Thank you for sustaining my small, eco-friendly business!