sweet sayings—traditional and timeless. Wildchild is the exact opposite—bold colors and tongue-in-cheek expressions. It follows the trends and the fashions of the day. Changing hats when designing these brands is made easy by the fact that these brands are so distinct. They tell their own stories. What have been some of the major challenges you’ve faced? From a creative point of view, the biggest and most exciting challenge is constantly coming up with something new. We make it a point to have new things to show every time a customer walks in our door.
Do you have a favorite product or style at Bon Bébé? Something that you’re particularly proud of? I’m proud of it all. We have a lot of styles every season spread out across multiple brands, but our company is very focused on that first year of a baby’s life. And what we are able to do, year after year, to find inspiration, to make product that parents like and want for their children, is remarkable. •
Has the regulation of children’s apparel affected you? We’ve always held to very high safety standards. We never cut corners there. We met CPSIA standards long before they were law. How are you dealing with the escalating raw material costs? How will it change your business? Pricing will change. We are making every effort not to change fabrication. We can’t predict what the impact will be, but we know there will be an impact. What has it meant for the company to license its name? We built a brand, not just a company—one is hard, the other harder. It’s been great for our brand. We’re able to offer our customers more of what they’ve come to love about our brand. And we’re able to keep our customers with us for more than just a baby’s first year since most of our licensed products extend to infant and toddler. Has the move into licensing changed your job? It hasn’t changed much of what I do here, but it has certainly added to the quality of what I do here. We make our artwork and other creative assets available to our partners every season. And getting to meet and brainstorm ideas with other creative and sales teams is wonderful. What’s your outlook on the year ahead? For 2011/2012, I would characterize our position as cautiously optimistic. The pricing challenges of the past few months are undeniable, but my hope is that we’re through the worst of it. The fact is our lines are designed—from concept to production—with the word value in the very front of our minds. That has always served us well—not just during the current economic downturn. There are a lot of people attracted to the balance of quality and fashion that we strive for. What are you excited about at Bon Bébé right now? We’re about to begin our next round of national advertising. Opening up a dialogue directly with the consumer is always fun and exciting for us. What other product categories are you looking to take Bon Bébé into? Hard goods, plush toys and nursery accessories. JUNE 2011 • EARNSHAWS.COM 25