In Marseille, the brand Pourquoi Princesse is shaking up stereotypes of children's fashion

With its rocket-patterned dresses and its t-shirts adorned with racing cars, the Marseille brand Pourquoi Princesse wants to break the stereotypes of children's fashion. No more pink and princesses for girls, blue and astronauts for boys: the brand hopes to show the new generation that it is capable of “becoming anything it wants”

According to the observatory of inequalities, in 2019, girls represented 31.2% of students in scientific preparatory classes, 27.7% in engineering schools and 18% in polytechnics. Very low figures resulting in an under-representation of women in tech and science professions.

From an early age, girls are encouraged to like pink, boys blue. The first to become princesses, the second astronauts. “Simplistic” shots with a long-term impact for Laura Drewett and Murielle Sitruk. Through their militant brand Why Princess, they want to break the girl/boy stereotypes and allow children to project themselves into any job or sport, regardless of gender.

"Let her be able to become anything she wants"

“Why Princess? Why not a pilot or an astronaut? “, these questions germinated in the mind of Laura during her first pregnancy, in 2014: “When my husband learned that we were expecting a girl, he said to me “I want her to be able to become everything she wants, that she is not limited to being a princess”. At the time, we looked into the question of sexism and became passionate about equality, ”explains the Marseillaise by adoption, originally from Virginia in the United States.

With her husband, originally from Marseille, they therefore decided to set up an egalitarian education at home: cars, dolls and rockets were available, without any question of gender. But when her son was born, Laura realized that the clichés did not stop at the "toys" section: "In terms of clothes, it's pink and unicorns for the girls, cars and rockets for the boys. . And that's when my daughter, Camille, wanted to have a dress with racing cars,” continues the designer. After long research, she comes to the conclusion that this kind of clothing does not exist, "and my daughter, her, that cars are not for girls...".

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The Pilot Suit Why Princess

Rockets, dragons, dinosaurs...

Shocked by her daughter's reaction, she created the start-up Pourquoi Princesse in 2019, with Marseillaise Murielle Sitruk. Today, the brand offers accessories, temporary tattoos as well as organic t-shirts and sweatshirts made locally at Steezstudio (4th) in Marseille. Their creations are adorned with rockets, dinosaurs but also slogans such as “I am the princess who slays the dragon” or “Aspiring astronaut”. "We have also created a pilot suit so that each granddaughter or grandboy can embody their dream", continues the designer.

This combination is accompanied by a book entitled “I can be a pilot” in which are told the stories of women pilots who have made history. But this is only the first in a long series because the founders of Pourquoi Princesse are already planning to create other clothes in the image of male "dominated" professions or sports, accompanied by books telling the successes of women who have “broken the glass ceiling”.

More than a clothing brand, Why Princess is also a community: “It's important for us to support parents in their awareness. Every week, we receive many testimonials, from parents who ask for advice, who share their stories…”, confides the founder to us.

“Create a universe of positivity and possibility”

In order to be as close as possible to their community, Laura and Murielle also carried out a questionnaire at the beginning of the year to determine with the parents the future projects of the brand: "Among the various choices offered, we suggested creating dresses and that's what I liked the most," recalls Laura.

To make this collection, called Girl Rebel, they therefore launched, on November 2, an Ulule kitty with a target of 150 presales. We exceeded it in 48 hours so we set ourselves a new target of 450 presales,” she adds. Closed on December 17, the campaign has already recorded more than 400 orders. The dresses will then be made in Portugal and delivered at the end of February 2021.

Head full of ideas, Laura does not intend to stop there: "My son Ulysses is 3 years old now, he loves pink and unicorns but, once again, this kind of clothing does not exist “, she laments. After their series of outfits and books on trades, the two women therefore plan to create clothes for little boys who, like Ulysses, do not intend to limit themselves to fashion codes. Because, for Laura, the idea is “to create a universe of positivity and possibility”, an inventive way to deconstruct stereotypes, one garment at a time.