London, Paris, New York

Famille Summerbelle makes us travel once again with a beautiful new city map, this time it's New York, New York. Based on the original paper cuts of Julie, the founder and designer of Famille Summerbelle, those printed maps are not missing any details of our favorite cities.

Color me crazy

We've spotted the perfect gift for little artists on the go : the well designed Artisti-Kit from kicokids. The kit comes in six exciting shades of canvas; each one has 6 non-toxic wooden color pencils, a colorful kicokids sketch pad and a little wooden pencil sharpener. We're happy to inform our readers that Kicokids currently offers free shipping in the US with any purchase of an Artisti-Kit. www.kicokids.com

Cuddly, adjustable, ecological and silent

Antwerp firm Buzzispace.com provides innovative solutions to divide home or work spaces. Their products are all in an environmentally friendly material called ecofelt, a 100% recycled material from PET bottles and has a very natural hand feel which creates an intimate/cocooning atmosphere. Available in 5 colors, the wall dividers can easily be decorated, a great way for children to make their corner become a very private own space of fun and expression.

art and commerce

We love it when kids retailers team up with kid-centric artists to generate buzz and promote art in general. Pomme is doing it (again) this week end with Brooklyn-based photographer Davina Zagury and her work on Love Triangle, The land of Lost Toy and Animals sequence. Davina's exhibition is part of Dumbo's Art Under the Bridge festival (Brooklyn, New York) taking place until Sunday Sept. 27th.

Lalalala...Lale!

Lale is a delicious line of home decor, multi-function luggage and other playful accessories available in varied colorful patterns. Spongy duvets, cheeky bumpers, sweet muslin, dummy or spare pants, poetic cushions, tear-drop bean-bag, fantastic dolls...the inventory is as long as the designer's immense imagination and talent. Lale is sold in New York at Kisan and Pomme, in London at Elias&Grace and Petit Aime, in Paris at Le Bon Marche and Merci, among other stores all over the world. contact@lale.fr

Marc who?

If you plan to spend Christmas at the beach, don't miss the new Little Marc Jacobs swimwear collection. The line features Little Miss and Mister Marc signature cartoon graphics pulled from Marc by Marc Jacobs' apparel and accessories. The collection features about 50 styles for age 2 to 10, with a retail price around $75-90. A perfect cruise item, so chic!

V.I.P.'s secret

After years spent at Donna Karan, Bonnie Young launched her own children's line in 2006 : bonnieyoung. Very "Modern Couture", this beautiful and precious collection is already the favorite of many famous names. bonnieyoung goes beyond clothing with a whole lifestyle range, including furniture and home decor. The designer opened her own boutique in Aspen and her collection is sold in a selection of the best international stores. Until October 12th, bonnieyoung is one for the guests of the exhibit Paris-Los Angeles at Le Bon Marche in France. A good occasion to discover the brand while it is still very exclusive.

Paris Design

A new Design Temple is born in Paris with Silvera Wagram : 5,000 sq feet designed by duo Patrick Jouin & Sanjit Manku. The airy space offers a unique selection of functional and decorative pieces (furniture+objects), a well as a great mix of fashion accessories, books and targeted magazines. The store illustrates how much designers get increasingly involved with the objects that surrounds us in life. The children's section is impressive, featuring iconic items as well as more exclusive ones. A real pleasure.
SILVERA WAGRAM - 41, avenue de Wagram – 75017 Paris

Design help needed?

If you need a little art direction help for your business, it is worth contacting friedamaria design studio. They can help you find the right concept, design, image, styling, window display. Their poetic + dream inspired mood is infused with a twist and their creations cope very well with the children's world. Among other things, friedamaria loves : home-made, contraditions, granny stuff, eccentric, white and powder tones with a spark of fluorine, painting, Dr. Marten shoes, steel wire, Alison Goldfrapp, wine, fairy tales, nostalgia, Bjork, Sweden, dresses with short puffing sleeves, Lee Miller, melancholic, the forest...that's probably enough to give you an idea!

Cozy Wilson

Donna Wilson's infamous knitted creatures are irresistible. Handmade in the UK, the 100% lambswool collection is now available in independent designs shops in over 15 countries. Golly! With chilly Autumn nights around the corner, the talented designer has been busy knitting new scarves, blankets and cushions thinking some of you would love to wrap their little one in a Rainy Day Mini Blanket or the Wooly Wood scarf...

Newcomer at Bubble London

Designed and made in Wales, Pili Pala which means butterfly in the local language, is a new and stylish clothing line for boys and girls. The range uses the softest organic cotton and is bursting with colour and print. Our favourite pieces include the stripy leggings and unisex jumpsuits. Pili Pala will showcase their first collection at Bubble London 31 January – 1 February 2010.

Robin Wood

Talented duo Sophie Demenge and Michael Ryan of Oeuf are launching a new collection called Robin, with sweeter prices, yet with the same quality and style than the other products of the label. We love the simplicity and natural feel of this wooden crib. Among a long list of US stores, we recommend Lavish, Belly, Sprout, and in France Bonton, 82 Rue De Grenelle Paris.

(Bugaboo) Red

Dutch company Bugaboo is once again ahead of the game in the stroller world. Starting October 1st, they will be donating 1% of their global sales to the Global Fund to help provide for AIDS programs in Africa. Keep an eye out for a special collection (Bugaboo) Red Cameleon with denim fabric, black frame and red (natch) handle brake.

Stick to Mae!

Brighten up any room with a new range of wall stickers made of fabric! Coming from Australia, Mae’s beautiful designs are removable, re-usuable and washable which is important when it comes to those precious yet impossibly grubby little ones. We love the Dress up dolls designed as an interactive toy for you or your child to style some fabulous outfits. A new range will be released next year, we can’t wait...

Precious index

Play All Day is a 240 pages hardcover book documenting the most vibrant and stimulating design products and concepts for children. Innovative toys, playgrounds and play environments, room decor, wall covering, furniture, kindergarten architecture, etc. It is very well documented, even featuring a section on illustration and photography. Our favorite names in the children's world are part of it : Our childrens Gorilla, Areaware, Wovenplay, Zid zid kids, Milk magazine, to name only a few.

Color, paint, draw, and imagine

Taro Gomi is a genius. My children started with his books "My friends" and "Everybody poops" (around 3 years old, tons of laughter and good sleep guaranteed with the latter). Then they discovered the Doodles and Scribbles giant coloring books and generously decorated each page again and again. This summer we came across a great postcards booklet over our holiday travels. We had silent afternoons and personalized mail for the whole family. Perfect found! Check Chronicle books for the new Squiggles Coloring book, freshly released.

And now...GREEN!

When we first met the Danish Crafts Rocking Sheep at ICFF a couple a years ago, it was pure, off white. Travelling from fair to fair, country to country, town to town, it turned pink, brown, grey, black. It looks like it took a break in the countryside this summer (unless he met Luciano Benetton in the Venitian hills) and decided for a green outfit. Exactly the touch of optimism (and a reminder of the ecological threat) that we need in the house before entering a long winter...Note that the sheep also shrunk and became a lamb for those who have tiny flats.

Little prosperous factory

Launched 5 years ago, Winter Water Factory is a small design and production facility in the heart of Brooklyn. The company started with a single item, knit hats, sold in one store on New York’s Lower East Side (we saw them grow nicely season after season at Bubble, The kids Trade Show). Today the brand offers an array of products that are shipped as far as Alaska, Sweden, Japan and Australia. The line includes clothing for kids and adults, accessories and items for the home, most of them in the house signature print that you can also order by the yard, to create your own items.

The September Issue...

...OF MILK, of course! It's called "Temperament Mode": 240 pages of fashion, decor, ideas and fun! www.milkmagazine.net

Lego, a story of Luck, Hard work and the Loss of innocence

Back from vacation, back to school, back at work. To get in the mood, we share this interesting article from the NY Times on the turnaround story of Lego. The kids industry is a competitive one, fads come and go and it is inspiring to see the comeback of the Lego brand, albeit at a price, the loss of innocence.