Fashion Brief
Could Jourdan Dunn be heading for super-mogul status? Today, the signs are strong, as the 24-year-old catwalk star – who in August became the first black British model to enter the Forbes model rich list – announced plans to develop her own children’s clothing line.
Dunn’s collection will include jeans, jackets, basic T-shirts, leggings, jumpers and accessories and will be produced with Fluid World, the licensing company behind Hello Kitty in the UK. In a press release the company described the line as seeking to fulfil “increasing consumer demand for cool clothes for kids and young adults”, and offering designer style at accessible prices.
Dunn said: “I love kid’s clothes and have been obsessed with them ever since my son was born. Through my career in fashion I have come to love and respect great design, and as a mum I also expect great quality and value for money, as well as the coolest clothes for my son Riley.” Forbes estimates that Dunn earned $4m (£2.4m) in the 12 months up to June 2014.
Childrenswear is booming, according to Euromonitor, which estimates the UK market to be worth £5.6bn and set to rise to £5.9bn by 2017. There are few truly high fashion figures involved in the accessible end of the business, however. Instead, TV presenters and personalities such as Myleene Klass and Jools Oliver lead the way. Klass’s Mothercare range is brash and unapologetic – Mansion Tax row-chic, perhaps – all leopard print jumpsuits and T-shirts emblazoned with rock’n’roll guitar motifs. Jools’s is earthier: 1970s-influenced zip-up tops one might imagine husband Jamie wearing; country-influenced woollen cardigans and stripes in cheerful primary colours.
If Dunn too creates childrenswear in her own image, her range is sure to have many current designer touches; the model knows her trends, having appeared in campaigns for brands including Balmain, Tommy Hilfiger and Burberry. Off duty, Dunn’s style has a tendency towards comfort – trainers, leggings, beanies and leather jackets which could be easily replicated in miniature. She is likely to have no trouble promoting the range given her friendships with some of social media’s biggest players, from model Cara Delevingne to musician Taylor Swift.
This fashion week, the clothes worn by celebrity offspring were as pored-over by the media as those of their parents, with celebrity children including Kim Kardashian and Kanye West’s daughter, North, becoming thumb-sucking front row fixtures. Away from the catwalks, Prince George’s wardrobe can shift product, too, with the retro Petit Bateau dungarees he wore in his first birthday portrait selling out in days. With Net-a-Porter having long registered the domain name Petite-a-porter.com, with a childrenswear site in the offing this is a very wise market for a high fashion mum to enter.
