The booming business of eco-responsible products for children

"You're not going to wash my jeans yet!" "No need for new clothes, I already have plenty." Today, the children seem well and truly determined to save the planet. Parents are also sensitive to this discourse. Sign of the times? Nothing (or almost) is thrown away anymore, second-hand clothes are given away or resold on bybambou.com, iletaitplusieursfois.com, leboncoin.com, eBay.fr or specialist vintage dressing rooms like Kids Market. At the same time, many young brands are offering an increasingly wide and attractive range of eco-responsible products for children.

Among the proposals? Pre-walking shoes in vegetable-tanned leather and chrome-free water glue at Easy Peasy, an organic cotton gauze blouse at Numero 74, a recycled denim satchel at Rive Droite, modeling clay with wax with bees and food coloring at Les Toys Libres, vegan lip balms at Inuwet, wooden toys with non-toxic paint at Holztiger, and chests of drawers with organic varnishes at Kutikai…

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Green labels

Today, in addition to dressing kids in style from head to toe, eco-responsible labels compete in ingenuity to offer safe cosmetics, furniture and lick toys. “A few seasons ago, we had few green brands, and therefore few innovative proposals,” notes Cécile Roederer, co-founder and president of smallable.com, the family concept store founded in 2008, which opened in January. 2019 a Greenable tab. “Our clients have made things happen. For the past two years, they have been telling us about their desire for more ethical and organic fashion for their children. Now, 30% of our brands have an ecological approach, respectful of people and the planet.”

Buy less but better

A committed start confirmed by Lucile Giraud, communication manager for Playtime, the show dedicated to fashion and decoration for children: “During our Parisian edition, in June 2019, out of the hundred new designer brands presented, four- twenty offered eco-responsible collections.” However, of the 500 exhibitors in Playtime, only 25% offer a so-called green range. The green path is long… At issue? Manufacturing costs that affect the selling price. On average, an organic cotton t-shirt is sold for 20% more than a basic one. “But behaviors are changing, and people are ready to pay more for better-made clothing,” notes Cécile Roederer.

Buying less but better means investing in a quality product that can be passed on to brothers and sisters or resold in due time on Vinted, Instagram or other second-hand shops. And above all, mend. Stella McCartney, the green queen of fashion, insists on her clients that they must not damage their belongings by washing them too often, and above all that they must get back to repairing the holes. Parents, to your needles!

This article originally published on August 26, 2019 has been updated.

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