Kyoto jumper and Zanzibar dress from Tea Collection.

OLIEBOLLEN
Also inspired by the blend of vintage European charm with an up-to-date modern twist is the company Oliebollen, founded by another duo of mothers. Based in Ann Arbor, Mich., Margaret Schankler, who had former internet marketing experience, and freelance graphic designer, Deb Pilutti, got their feet wet for four years by selling European clothes and toys before dipping into their own design talents and creating their own products. “When we did our first shopping for products to carry, we were in love with Dutch brands and Dutch design,” says Schankler. “When my husband was getting ready to go to Brussels for business, we were looking in a Dutch dictionary and came across the word oliebollen. My daughter thought it was the funniest word, and it kept coming up, so it clicked with us.”

Oliebollen is the plural form of Oliebol, a traditional Dutch holiday cake. Their first product was a custom set of paperboard suitcases. They then added baby blankets and blocks.

When asked about this boom of kids’ products and design, Schankler replied, “In America, we are just discovering what Europeans have always done for children’s goods. Their traditions include quality materials and construction, a clean but colorful aesthetic, and the practice of using a few things for a long period of time, rather than acquiring all kinds of inexpensive things and disposing of them every few months.”

Oliebollen recently took its quality design sense a step further by responding to the many children in Afghanistan orphaned by war. Schankler and Pilutti were having coffee with friends one morning in October 2003, discussing how they could make a difference in Afghanistan. One person said, “Don’t you wish you could just scoop these babies up and wrap them in your arms?” Schankler says, “That was our eureka moment.” Pilutti designed the “Olie Loves the World” blanket offered in two color schemes, red and pink, and blue, sold them for $25, and gave 100 percent of the profits to Sitara, a nonprofit organization caring for Afghan war orphans. www.oliebollen.com

Peeps bedding design by Dwellbaby.

ZID ZID KIDS
From the deserts of Morocco, a husband and wife team who had recently left the comforts of Cambridge, Mass., with a toddler and a baby on the way, wanted to find a way to work together as artist and designer. “After some soul-searching,” says Moulay A. Essakalli, a native of Casablanca, “we decided to put our respective experiences of education, art, and children together. We felt there was a need for new and unusual products.” Essakalli is a graphic designer who worked for various firms in Boston and at Harvard University, as well as assisted on many international projects, for the Interactive Factory and Zefer, Inc. His wife, Julie Klear, has taught art to children for over 15 years.

“Our first prototypes were made almost by accident,” says Essakalli. “When Julie was sewing an animal form for our baby-in-waiting, a light bulb went off right there in our first apartment in Marrakech. We lived next to a wonderful retired Parisian woman couturier whose vast knowledge of sewing helped us build our first samples—wall hangings and mini-poofs—and Zid Zid Kids was born.” Inspired by the colors, fabrics, and artisans of Morocco, the company creates blankets, wall hangings, cushions, stools, tables, and poofs. They started by shopping their samples around door-to-door in New York and Boston; they have now just launched Zid Zid Morocco and are talking with a distributor in Paris about spreading the line around Europe. www.zidzidkids.com

Dot and Ring dishes by French Bull.

TEA COLLECTION
Another design group bringing a global perspective to kids’ design is Tea Collection, out of San Francisco. Coming onto the scene in 2002, Tea Collection offers clothing for little ones that combine global aesthetics with a respect for modern design. Cofounder Emily Meyer says she has always wanted to “make the foreign familiar.” With an extensive background in design for well-known companies like Esprit and Gymboree, she and partners Shelley Mackenzie Walsh and Leigh Rawson started their line with three sweater styles—Chinese, Mandarin, and Kimono—now popular signatures of Tea.

Unlike some companies starting a children’s line, they didn’t want to shrink adult clothes. Meyers admits, “Parents want clothes that are appropriate for children. Children need different features than adults—clothes that wear well wash after wash, made of soft fabric, and move well with children running and playing.”

Meyers believes the boom in kids’ design has a lot to do with parents who are having children at a later age. “As a result,” she says, “they are typically well-traveled, well-educated, and mindful of the world, and therefore a little more sophisticated. They tend to care more about design and quality in all aspects of their lives and are looking for options for their children that are more consistent with their own aesthetics and values.” Therefore the choice between pink or blue, ducks or bunnies just won’t do anymore. Like the drink the company is named for, “Tea is simple, it’s global, humble, and powerful.” www.teacollection.com