Make room for high-fashion children

Blame Suri Cruise for the boom in big name children’s fashion. The five-year-old daughter of Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes, one of the most photographed children in the world, is always expensively togged out. Now, big brands are finding gold in the tots’ market.

Globally, children’s wear is outperforming womenswear in the recession and in a less crowded market. There are, after all, lower stitching and manufacturing costs. So the launch of Brown Thomas’s new boutique-style Children’s Room, housing brands such as Ralph Lauren, Burberry, Chloe and Paul Smith, makes sense. The opening coincides with the Irish launch of Stella McCartney’s first children’s wear line tomorrow at a private event in the store.

“It’s for mums who buy in Brown Thomas, shopping for their children,” says fashion director Shelly Corkery. “There’s a big focus also on gifting, and great interest in shoes,” she adds. Bonpoint sundresses have already sold out. Along with global childrenswear brands, the Georgian-inspired boutique with its pale oak floors also offers well-established French childrenswear labels such as Tartine et Chocolat and Cyrillus for a BCBG (Bon chic, bon genre), French preppy look. There’s even Baby Boss and Junior Gaultier for boys, all located on Level 3 in the Grafton Street store. The Children’s Room in Cork and in Limerick branches of Brown Thomas also stock many of the collections.