Junior Design Awards 2022 / 26 September 2022

Best Circular / Vintage Fashion Brand | Junior Design Awards 2022

A brand new award for 2022 we wanted to honour all the circular and vintage brands that are shaking up the children's fashion industry...

Who:Wolf & Mabel

What:Online Vintage childrenswear store

Why:

First of all, the clothes. Wow. Every single JDA judge was enraptured by this selection of exquisite vintage dresses, featuring British heritage brands from Laura Ashley to C&A. Yes, C&A! In fact, one of our stylist judges remembered wearing a pretty Laura Ashley dress from the collection as a bridesmaid in the 80s! The quality and design of each piece was remarkable and the panel couldn’t stop eulogising about Wolf & Mabel founder, Anne-Louise’s incredible eye. Secondly, the presentation of this collection was just wonderful. Every piece was cleaned, steamed and pressed to perfection with its own swing tag showing a beautifully styled photograph of a child dressed in the item.

Our judges felt that these clothes were quite literally a cut above and that the experience of shopping on Wolf & Mabel’s website was a total pleasure, making the very best vintage treasures available to anyone who adores fashion and shopping sustainably.

Seriously! Just OMG. Can I shoot this please? It’s divine. Top buyer, top marks. This is the way forward to be cool as and save the planet all at the same time.

Abi Campbell, children’s fashion photographer and brand consultant, @abicampbellphotography

The most beautiful dresses! We love, love, love Wolf & Mabel!

Charlotte Kewley, children’s stylist @thelittlestylist

Incredible eye for vintage pieces that are as desirable now as they were then! Beautiful!

Emma Donnelly, art director and photographer @takeapicturelady

An amazing curation of vintage children's fashion. A great idea for fashion conscious children and parents.

Margherita Hunt, co-founder of @shopmaison_m

A breath-taking array of dresses. The quality and cut of smaller scale production and older manufacturing techniques from the 70’s and early 80’s is always a joy to see. So special.

Bonita Turner Editor of JUNIOR

I want to stalk this lady in jumble sales! How does she find such incredible pieces? Sustainable shopping at its very best.

Eleonore Crompton, Deputy Editor, JUNIOR

Who:thelittleloop

What:A fully circular, ethical clothing subscription rental service for babies and children

Why:

Our judges felt this business really fulfilled the needs of parents who want to find a way to dress their children more ethically and sustainably without compromising on quality and style. Every member of the panel identified with the cycle of kids constantly growing out of their clothes, the resulting expense and over-stuffed drawers, not to mention the piles of clothes that are smothering our planet.

Thelittleloop feels like a wonderful solution to all these problems and the panel felt the subscription service was easy to use and fantastic value. The high quality range of brands available to rent including Polarn O Pyret, Frugi, Kite and John Lewis and Partners, caused a great deal of buzz.

I recently watched thelittleloop founder, Charlotte pitching on Dragon’s Den and I was blown away by her passion, common sense and clear sight. Charlotte has created a brilliant circular fashion business that helps parents to protect the planet, save money and dress children beautifully in eco conscious brands.

Bonita Turner, Editor of JUNIOR

Such an impressive business!

Charlotte Kewley, children’s stylist, @thelittlestylist

This is such a fantastic service for parents who want to shop more ethically and opt firmly out of fast fashion.

Eleonore Crompton, Deputy Editor, JUNIOR

Who:Le Petit Planet

What:An e-commerce platform that offers a sustainable edit of clothing, toys, and home decor for children, within a circular business model of buy and resale.

Why:

The JDA judges really loved the concept of this new online store that not only presents a beautiful edit of eco-conscious children’s brands but has the added benefit of enabling their customers to re-sell anything they buy from the site quickly and easily.

The breadth of products available and the block-chain technology that records your purchases and then quickly places them on the Reloved, resale section of the site when you’re ready to sell, greatly impressed our panel who were very excited by this simple and effective closed-loop ecosystem for children’s clothing and products. A brilliant idea!

This is such a fantastic example of circular fashion made easy. A fabulous edit of clothing and products, paired with amazing technology for selling on anything you’ve grown out of. So clever.

Bonita Turner, Editor of JUNIOR

At first this sounds like quite a big idea to get your head around (or at least it did to me) but having read all of the info and browsed the site, it's actually a very simple, effective, clever concept that I really, really like the sound of!

Charlotte Kewley, Children’s Stylist, @thelittlestylist

Love the concept.

Charlotte Love, artist, stylist, photographer @charlottelovely

A great idea - much needed and seems convenient and pain free to use.

Margherita Hunt, co-founder of @shopmaison_m

Gosh, a simple, straight forward way to shop ethically and then re-sell your clothes, all in one place! The positive impact on planet, pocket and precious time is fantastic.

Eleonore Crompton, Deputy Editor, JUNIOR

Who:Kookoobutkind

What:An ethical clothing brand that highlights global, social and climate issues head-on.

Why:

Our judges felt all the feels when it came to this fashion label, that really puts responsibility for people and planet first. The panel were excited to hear that Kookoobutkind clothes are made as sustainably as possible and for every item sold a tree is planted through conservation partnerships that focus on reforestation.

The soft and comfortable clothes were a huge hit and the hand drawn illustrations and inspiring slogans that focus on diversity, kindness and protecting the planet really stole the judges’ hearts. A fabulous collection.

A joyful brand that has put so much thought into what children really want to wear and the causes they are passionate about.

Bonita Turner, Editor of JUNIOR

I love the Future Leaders Sweater! Just a brilliant idea.

Charlotte Kewley, Children’s Stylist, @thelittlestylist

The comfort the design, the messages, the plantable labels, the colouring paper packaging - this brand is a pure celebration of children and their world that needs to be protected.

Eleonore Crompton, Deputy Editor, JUNIOR

Cute, happy, sunshine designs. Lovely comfortable pieces with an educational twist - fun and pretty too.

Margherita Hunt, co-founder of lifestyle store @shopmaison_m

Love the educational aspect of the designs and the softness of the materials used.

Mooi Ginsburg, co-founder of lifestyle store @shopmaison_m

Absolutely adore Kookoobutkind and the message they’re spreading. The designs are cool, love the colours and adore all of the messaging ????

Portia Freeman, model, mixologist and presenter @portiaportiaaaa

Who:Babu

What:Luxury children’s clothing rental by subscription

Why:

This luxury children’s clothing subscription rental platform for children 0-4years really excited our judges who felt that the celebrity curated, capsule collections on offer were incredibly stylish and chic, enabling parents and children to enjoy an ever-changing flow of luxury fashion items, without impacting on the planet.

Love the choice of brands.

Emma McMenemy, Content Creator, @emma_mcmenemy

An amazing concept. Making luxury fashion sustainable. I'm excited to see where this brand goes...

Charlotte Kewley, children’s stylist, @thelittlestylist

Love this! Love the accessibility provided by this service.

Portia Freeman, model, mixologist, presenter, @portiaportiaaaa

Who:Lullaloop

What:A fashion brand for babies and toddlers available to rent through subscription

Why:

The gorgeous GOTS certified, mix, match and stand out separates in this collection made our judges coo and they loved the idea that this service could save time, money and space for super busy parents, while helping them to avoid the vicious fast fashion cycle and dressing their children in only sustainably made and organic cotton clothing.

The idea of a rentable service with just one brands collection at first sounded a little limiting. BUT actually the pieces are really cute and stylish and you could of course build on the monthly offering with a few other key pieces.

A great concept for anyone who is time poor as well as being an amazing sustainable initiative.

Charlotte Kewley, Children’s Stylist, @thelittlestylist

Effortlessly cool. Love, love, love the pink dungas ????

Portia Freeman, Model, Mixologist, Presenter, @portiaportiaaaa