BEBE ORGANIC launched in 2014. It is built upon a vision of creating beautiful, timeless and sustainable clothing and accessories that nurture kids and the environment. They respect the time and natural resources and their desire is to leave a positive imprint on the world.
Every year, Bebe Organic creates two limited-edition collections with high-quality materials and a sustainable approach to traditional production methods in Portugal. Working closely with small family-run factories ensures tailored and dedicated service, particular attention to detail, transparency and quality control.
Birgit Kadak, founder of Bebe Organic answers some of our questions:
Tell us about you! What’s your background and how did Bebe Organic start?
I studied fashion in London College of Fashion and worked with luxury womenswear designers in London. After I got pregnant with my first child I started to discover and develop more interest in baby and childrenswear. My son was diagnosed with atopic dermatitis a very dry and itchy skin condition that needs special attention. As concerned mother I started to look into skin care products and also clothing materials that I was buying for him. I understood that most important was not to buy any synthetic materials as these are not breathable and will make his skin condition even worse. During this time, I noticed that all nice and chic brands that I was buying are using unnecessary materials that are not even natural and good for the child’s skin. In 2014 I also I read Greenpeace article “A Little Story About the Monsters In Your Closet” that highlights research about high-street and also luxury children’s clothing and accessories brands where a broad range of hazardous chemicals were found in their children’s clothing and footwear. I started to buy organic baby clothing but discovered that most of the clothing was very basic and boring with no cute details or design. This is when I considered that I need to create collection myself that is using only organic and natural fabrics and materials but still with cute and timeless style. This is when Bebe Organic first collection was made.
Where do you get your inspiration from with each collection?
Collections are inspired by my own nostalgic childhood memories, family travels and by my own children. I have a son age 8 and daughter age 6 years. Colour inspiration always comes from nature and nature inspires me each season with its earthly tones.
We understand you have recently relocated to Porto. What do you most like about being based in Portugal?
We live half time in Estonia and also Portugal. As our collection production is done in Portugal we need to stay here at least 4 months a year.
Portugal is a relatively small country but it has a lot to offer. It has incredible nature from north to south, you find very different landscapes and nature. Also the architecture is amazing. Food is fantastic everywhere, people are lovely and there is a lot of inspiration for my work. I really enjoy the light, the Atlantic Ocean and nostalgic life style of Portugal.
What’s been the biggest challenge so far with the pandemic? How have you tried to overcome it? I think this is same for each working mother- home schooling, working, cooking, cleaning… on repeat every day and no days off.
This was my biggest challenge and I think I did not overcome this at all. I tried to schedule our days and hours as we needed to share computers. Also I tried to cook soups and stews that can be eaten more than one meal. We understood as a family that we will not stress as this time is difficult for everyone. So we tried to do some physical activity every day for one hour with kids to stay still active and sane.
Work wise it has been difficult not to show our collections in the trade shows and meet our lovely customers around the world. We have been creative showing our line with our agents and thought about different ways of introducing new collection to retailers.
At the beginning of the pandemic, we also had to close our store in Estonia and that was hard decision as we opened it 6 months before the pandemic started.
If you had to choose one celebrity to be your client, who would it be and why?
Hard question … I absolutely adore author and cook Mimi Thorisson. If I have to choose one I would choose her 🙂
What has been your proudest achievement so far with Bebe Organic?
This year we won an industry award from a respected magazine for our new AW21 collection. It was a proud achievement to get recognition within the industry.
I also great joy from small achievements like seeng kids wearing our new collection of clothing and posting on social media. Customer love gets me every time!
What is your mission with Bebe Organic?
The mission is to constantly look for sustainable ways to be creative in processes and technologies that reduce environmental impact and provide safer choices for children skin and the earth.
The magnificence of nature is powerful, beautiful and so natural at the same time. It has seasons and emotions like our collections have. We want that our clothes would be taken and felt in a similar way.
We are not thinking about growing our brand. We are thinking every day how to delight our customers more. We want our collections to be more beautiful and meaningful, fabrics more special and at a same time we try to travel as much as possible to talk and meet with our customers, to see different cultures and to get inspired to deliver best product out there.
We currently produce limited two collections per year with small collaborations. Our next collection was recognised with an industry award. We are so excited to show more of this as we have so many different interesting and unique approaches in this collection.
Shop the collection HERE