LEMON MAGAZINE // NEW NOW (part II)
LEMON Magazine is a printed magazine inspired by modern parenthood, kids’ fashion, people, lifestyle, and social and environmental consciousness. Refreshing, aspirational and inclusive. Our readers are brave, strong, and real women, who have opinions, love fashion and want to raise their kids for a better future.
Bárbara Perino is the founder of LEMON magazine. This mother of two is a fashion expert and a travel addict, with a mind, that is constantly bubbling with creative effervescence.
BRANDS:
PERNILLE
When I look at Pernille’s collection, I imagine my kids at a horse racing event. Elegant, trendy, chic, and classic. A timeless style and the most amazing natural fabrics are a must in every collection, and yes, they do it so well and look effortless! This brand transports me to the first collections of Gabrielle Chanel, where classic met iconic!
- How would you describe your brand?
Pernille is a slow fashion clothing brand that made its first steps in 2021. It’s a childhood story where every single detail is crafted with love, dedication, and uniqueness. Our selection of fabrics puts accent only on natural fibres: silk, linen, hemp, cotton, and soft wool. With delicate lines and perfect stitches, we follow a classic aesthetic inspired by a stylish yet simple and chic design.
Pernille it’s all about the basics, a style that never fades. The emblematic small rabbit along with the meaning of the brand’s name (Rock) make the perfect combo: delicate but creating strong emotions.
- How did the idea to start the brand come up?
The brand started from a dress that I made for my daughter: I drew the design and went to a tailor to sew it. It made me very happy to be able to create something that my daughter could wear. This was the beginning of Pernille.
- Where do you find inspiration for your collection?
The inspiration for my designs and style is my kids. It’s like a fairytale became real…
- A fact people might not know about your brand.
Pernille is a part of my soul; it helped me rediscover myself and overstep my boundaries.
- What’s next for Pernille?
Our biggest wish is to become an internationally successful brand.
PETIT MINUS
Petit Minus is a brand founded by parents, that aims to be scalable, mixed, sustainable, and intelligent. With them it’s simple: everything is unisex and there are only 3 sizes:
0-6 months / 6-12 months / 12-24 months.
At a time when the stakes for our planet are so high, they have decided to create products suitable for toddlers, made in Europe and with a shorter circuit for strong ethical values!
Their objective is to consume less, but better and I couldn’t agree more!
- What are your main concerns?
To stop fast fashion and change the way people consume clothes. Today we are used to buy clothes that don’t last and changing them more often than we need. Especially with babies, because they grow so fast. You tend to buy clothes at a low cost because you know your baby will wear it just a few weeks. By doing that you encourage fast fashion and pollute the world, even if you don’t mean to, you just don’t want to waste too much money on clothes that won’t last long. That’s why I created a brand of gender-neutral clothes that can grow with your baby. This way you don’t have to buy new sizes every week, you can keep them for months (even years) and from one child to another since they are gender neutral.
- A fact people might not know about your brand.
Until the last minute, I wasn’t sure about the name. Ahaha. Because in French “Minus” can be a negative word. But that’s what I often call my kids because I believe every nickname in the world, even negative ones, can be cute and positive if you put love into it. I called so many people to talk about it because I wanted this brand to be a cool one, so I wanted to be sure the name wouldn’t be a “barrier” to that goal.
- Why did you choose to only have 3 sizes?
Because you don’t need more than 3 sizes to dress up your baby from 0 to 2 years old. At home, I have so many boxes of clothes that are already too small, sorted by sizes (Birth, 1 month, 3 months, 6 months, 9 months, 12 months, 18 months, 24 months). It’s too much. Too much to stock at your house waiting for the next baby, too much choice when you must buy a present (is it a big or a tiny baby? Which size should I take so it can fit him this summer?). Three sizes are enough, more practical, and still nicely cut 😉
- What’s next for Petit Minus.
Bigger sizes! 2-4 years old and 4-6 years old. New “grow with your kids” products. I have some already in mind, but it takes time to develop them, protect them, etc. New prints also, as I love finding illustrators I want to collaborate with. My next collection has been drawn by an Italian artist and I can’t wait for you to see it this winter. And of course, more resellers, I would like to spread the trend of expandable clothes so everyone can learn that there is another way to consume fashion for babies.
- Where do you see yourselves in 5 years?
Busy as hell! Ahaha. Probably running the company with baby number 3 on my hip. With many resellers around Europe, why not the whole world? Still travelling between France & Portugal where my clothes are made. I hope in 5 years expandable clothes will be a more renowned trend as people are slowly changing their habits, especially with the fashion industry as we are now more aware of the damages of fast fashion around the world. In 5 years, I hope that when two moms will have a coffee together and start talking about baby clothes, one would say “have you heard about clothes that can grow with your kids?” the other one would reply “Yes! I think it was Petit Minus who helped launch this trend. I have all her collections, I’m a big fan, it’s so clever. You can see why it was a Mum who had this idea.”
PITIGAIA
This is a brand of organic accessories made in France for babies to preserve their health and that of the planet. Their founder imagines and produces the patterns of the products in her offices and ensures the traceability of the textiles worked. All the pieces are 100% certified organic cotton, timeless and non-gendered. And if you think this is wonderful, wait until you see their beautiful pieces!
- How did your brand start?
To talk about the birth of Pitigaïa, I must first tell you about my personal path. I am the mother of 3 children (including twins), all three of them coming from a process of Medically Assisted Reproduction. During my twin pregnancy (the second one), I started creating baby products for my boys and I really enjoyed it. To do things right, I asked to meet with the head of the mother-child unit of the local maternity hospital who invited me to attend the Nesting* workshops that are offered to future parents during pregnancy follow-up. During these workshops, I was made aware of the impact of endocrine disruptors and other pollutants that are omnipresent in our daily environment, which allowed me to make the link between my exposure to them and my fertility concerns. It also allowed me to become aware of the importance of the choice of materials that I would use to make articles intended for the use of toddlers. The latter are the most vulnerable to exposure to endocrine disruptors during their first 1000 days of life, both extra and intra-uterine. Therefore, with Ravahiti, my co-founder, we created Pitigaïa to inform, raise awareness on the importance of preserving environmental health and propose (really) healthy alternatives to the traditional childcare industry (polyester, etc.).
*Nesting is a project developed in 2008 by WECF in 7 European countries (Germany, France, Greece, United Kingdom, Hungary, Spain, Netherlands) and Switzerland recently. Nesting was created to meet the expectations of parents and health and childcare professionals who want to be better informed about the risks related to indoor pollution.
- A fact people might not know about your brand.
Pitigaïa, which means “two natural mothers”: piti = two in Tahitian (origin of Ravahiti) and gaïa = mother nature, is the first brand of textile childcare to be 100% made in France, in an approach of local, social and solidarity economy, 100% made of organic cotton with optimum transparency and traceability since we are certified GOTS by Ecocert Green.
- What’s next for Pitigaia.
Thanks to the universal, timeless and gender-neutral design of the items, we hope to develop Pitigaïa internationally with a public that appreciates French know-how and eco-responsible commitments.
- Do you remember your first-ever piece?
Our very first item is the nomadic changing mat, currently available on our website www.pitigaia.fr or on www.ankorstore.com for professionals. Made entirely of organic cotton, it is an essential item to have for changing babies wherever you are. With a removable terry towel and an inner pocket to carry your baby’s changing supplies, it has been designed to make family outings easier. And for maximum convenience, its folded pocket makes it easy to carry and use anywhere: at the grandparents’, on vacation, at the park, etc.
- Your biggest dream for the brand.
Our biggest dream is for Pitigaïa to become an essential brand in the field of childcare, and to inspire other brands to act for the health of toddlers and the planet!