Children's Clothing Trends 2009

Childrens Clothing Trends

And some top designers now even design for the baby market – you can buy Dior and Armani baby bottles, stylishly printed with the designer’s name. But, while baby clothing....

Children's Clothing Trends 2009

Children’s clothing has become much more sophisticated recently, with top designers paying increasing attention to this market. With 20 children’s clothing brand names (including Levis, IKKS, Kenzo, Beckaro, and Little Marc Jacobs), the Zannier Group describes itself as “the current global leader in kidswear.” And some top designers now even design for the baby market – you can buy Dior and Armani baby bottles, stylishly printed with the designer’s name. But, while baby clothing is still designed within a formula – using lots of white and pink for girls, and white and blue for boys – children’s clothing is now modeled on clothing for young adults.

However, one thing to realize when designing for children, is that the proportions of a child’s body is different to that of an adult’s (e.g., arms and legs are shorter in children, proportional to the torso), so you can’t just grade down an adult garment pattern. To learn more about children’s fashion, measuring for garment construct, clothing illustration and fabrics, check out StartingaClothingLine.com.

When you look at children’s fashion photography you’ll notice that photographers try to show the different characters of the child models – there are no generic children. And one of the most important things to keep in mind when designing for children’s clothing is that – like clothing for young adults – it’s all about expressing the personality of the wearer. Fabrics should reflect whether the child will be wearing the garment at school, while playing a sport, or just having fun in the park. Children’s clothes for outdoors should be tough enough to allow children to play without making Moms worried that they might get torn. And the fabric and cut of clothing should always be comfortable for children.

Clothing company IKKS uses tough fabrics for boys clothing in a way that is fashion and style conscious. Khaki combat pants, brown corduroy sweater, and leather jacket or coat is just one outfit. A cord jacket with scouts or army-style patches on the arm, and thick, black embroidered logo on the back, make this garment cool. And a boys V-neck, white sweater printed with the silhouette of a city, and the slogan “Factory Dept” printed large, make this as cool as anything you could find for teens or even young adults.

For girls IKKS is using lots of stylish gray, khaki, and taupe fine-knit wool. The company’s monochromatic outfits are made edgy and fun with a ‘pop’ color such as pink or mint green on a T-shirt, scarf, or bold logo. Leggings, casual woolen dresses and leather boots is a sophisticated look for pre-teen (or “tween”, as its also called).

Little Marc Jacobs outfits use a lot of white, with turquoise or pink accents, or subtle stripes. The company is also using Liberty-type ‘ditsy’ floral print for girls dresses and boys shirts – just as you can find in adult clothing right now. You’ll also find other designers, such as Chippie, going for ditsy florals. And, while embroidery is big for children’s clothing, Chippie has added some appliqué, such as on its girls’ ‘tunique’ with leaf design running around the skirt. And this company is also using a lot of plaids, denim, chunky-patterned knit in white, mauve, black, yellow and browns. Overall, Chippie’s style is hippy-chic for kids – full of love of life and optimism.