Happy Holiday Season

We are off... Merry Christmas! Enjoy the Holiday Season. We will be back in January.

Aussie story

Australian brand Three little trees had a lot of success at the last edition of Bubble London. They are back on 31 January & 1 February with their boys and girls collection. The line is available at Butterfly Kisses in Glasgow, Calini in Northern Ireland, Little Sunflowers in East Sussex, Mambolona in Madrid and many more. For wholesale inquiries, contact Domino Baby.

B-LAV launching at White Kids

After Lapo and his gorgeous menswear line Italia Independent, it's the turn of another member of the Fiat clan to make an entry in the fashion world. Lavinia Borromeo, the elegant wife of John Elkann, launched this year her children's line B-LAV. The second collection will be showcased at White Kids, the first show dedicated to kids’s fashion in Milan, on January 24-26.

Support Kids Company Christmas!

Each year, London based charity Kids Company who supports vulnerable children and young people, produces Christmas cards with all profits going to fund their Christmas Day celebration.
If you still haven’t sent your cards already, do your bit for charity and head to their online shop www.kidsco.org.uk.

There will not be a March 2010 edition of Bubble New York. A number of circumstances were jeopardizing the success of the March 2010 show and founders Florence Rolando and Vanessa Boz did not want to do things half way. As of today, all exhibitors have been fully reimbursed.
The first Bubble trade show took place in March 2006 with about 50 exhibitors, half of them coming from overseas. The show then grew up to nearly 150 exhibitors, keeping a good mix of international and national brands as well as a full range of products from clothing to accessories, home decor, toys, jewelry, beauty care, etc.
More information about an August show will be posted on www.bubbletradeshows.com later. Meanwhile things continue to rock for Bubble London which will be held on January 31& February 1 at the Business Design Centre in Islington.

Sparkle this holiday..and then Spin!

Who doesn't need a little sparkle these days...Sparkle&Spin has just the perfect holiday top for any little girl in the mood for a sweet spin. From Danish designer Holly's, a regular at Bubble London, here comes the perfect sequin top for the season.

American children's designer brands were hardly seen in Europe in the days of a strong dollar. They are finally getting more attention and it is well deserved. Orfeo, a London based online store launched in 2007, is a great window for beautiful US brands such as Wovenplay, mor mor rita, Atsuyo et Akiko, Marilyn Tov, Oeuf, Shirin Kids, Tamar Mogendorf, etc. The web boutique carries high end clothes and gifts for children 0-6, mainly from up-and-coming independent designers with an understated, contemporary, poetic, natural, imaginative style. Photo 1.Wovenplay, 2.Apolline.

Dino e Lucia at the White House

How often do we get to see an independent clothing brand dressing up the presidential children at the White House for a Vanity Fair shoot by Annie Leibovitz?! Kuddos to Sasha and Malia Obama for their audacious choices! Dino e Lucia brands itself as the "naughty designer for well-behaved children". This must have seduced Michelle O. With a store in St Germain des Pres and in St Tropez, an exclusive concession at Harvey Nichols in London, and a steady and carefully controlled growth in wholesale, Dino e Lucia is surely a brand to keep an eye on.

A worthy cause

Beautiful brand of the moment Let Them Eat Cake is collaborating with the Environmental Justice Foundation to create a tee shirt whose proceeds will go directly to the charity and its cotton campaign. EJF is well known at Bubble as we initiated a collaboration, at the launch of the show in London, between them and Caramel Baby & Child. A beautiful tee shirt came out of the collaboration. We have no doubt that the same will be true again this time with Let Them Eat Cake. Felicity has chosen three exciting artists for the project. The tee shirts will be on sale as of January, just on time for the good resolutions, buy ethic, buy for the good cause. We can't wait to see them.

Eco-friendly Christmas tree

A couple of years ago, Kids On Roof met a great success with their blue doll houses. The company has since developed an outstanding range of eco friendly items, including the totem collection of imaginative 3D products to build before using as a house decoration. The Xmas tree is made of 150 recycled and biodegradable cardboard pieces printed with an angel, deer, peace doves, candles, ornaments and a big gleaming star. Available at Brooklyn store Sweet William

Eco-friendly Xmas tree

A couple of years ago, Kids On Roof met a great success with their blue doll houses. The company has since developed an outstanding range of eco friendly items, including the totem collection of imaginative 3D products to build before using as a house decoration. The Xmas tree is made of 150 recycled and biodegradable cardboard pieces printed with an angel, deer, peace doves, candles, ornaments and a big gleaming star. Available at Brooklyn store Sweet William

African story

The Butter Man just won the 2009 Children's Africana Book Award. We are particularly happy to relay this news as the illustrator is Julie Klear Essakalli from Zid zid Kids, a founding exhibitor at Bubble Trade Shows. Julie lives and works in Marrakech where she designs and creates textile art and furnishings with her husband Moulay. Julie was recently asked by the Smithsonian National Museum of African Art to donate an illustration from the book for their collection.The Butter Man, by Elizabeth and Ali Alalouis available on Amazon.com.

Northern e-store

Finns Finds is a 6 months old online boutique focusing on simple designs, unique details, quality fabrics and construction. Finns Finds features designers from around the world (Denmark, Holland, Australia, France) and also brings a fair amount of eco-friendly brands into the mix. We love the selection of unusual toys. Photos 1.Milibe Copenhagen 2.Talc Paris 3.Vilac, France

Straight from Tibet

Catherine Anderson launched the label Kokonor in 2005 when she and her Tibetan husband started a workshop, employing and training talented Tibetan tailors living as refugees in the inspiring surrounds of the Indian Himalaya. A whole range of lifestyle items are hand-crafted under the label Kokonor including childrenswear, but the Tibetan workshop also acts as an ethical production unit for independent labels attracted by a shared loyalty to fair-trade principles, unstinting commitment to quality, and low minimum orders. For more information, contact Catherine at mail@kokonor.co.uk, tel +44(0)1361 883042.

Flashy + stripy

Founded in 2003 by Mille Milt and Maria Rabenhe, Danish children’s wear brand Milibe uses vibrant stripes, soft pointelle patterns and complimentary full color garments to deliver true Scandinavian wardrobe classics with simplicity and fantastic quality. Their initial collection was based on a single long sleeved t-shirt but the range now includes underwear, leggings, t- shirts, simple dresses and knitwear. Milibe only use eco-tex approved colors in their production (no harmful substances are used) as well as premium quality cotton and all garments are manufactured in Europe. Milibe will be showing at Bubble London this January.