Mumpreneurs focused on global growth

L-R Kamilla Ogrodnik, Natasha Formoy and Chatelle Etienne

Two young mums from Bradford have created a luxury unisex children’s wear brand in their own home that is now filling the wardrobes of A-list celebrities such as P Diddy, Kylie Jenner, and Snoop Dog.

In 2018 Natasha Formoy and Chantelle Etienne both 32 and childhood friends worked from Natasha’s home alongside their full- time jobs to create the children’s clothing brand, House of Juniors – aimed at children aged 5-16. Now following the challenges of 2021 the pair are focused on global growth.

Formoy and Etienne met at school and soon discovered they both had a passion for fashion and business. Remaining friends, they spent time building the brand whilst working as full-time social care workers and bringing up their children. The entrepreneurial duo joined forces with now head designer, Kamila Ogrodnik, 26, who, alongside Formoy, focused on developing the brand’s design and has since become a partner in the ever-expanding business.

Describing the journey, which saw Formoy spend years researching the children’s fashion market worldwide, visiting trade shows and gaining insight into how other brands perform and grow, she explains the challenge of launching the business from her home.

She said: “When we first started the brand, we had to convert the downstairs of my house into a workspace because we didn’t have the funds for a warehouse or office. At one point, every room in the house was overflowing with clothes.”

Formoy’s research paid off with the visits to trade shows enabling her to build relationships with suppliers such as fabric manufacturers to garment producers.

Within a few months of launching House of Juniors were chosen to showcase their products at Mini Mode, the official children’s runway at London Fashion Week, where they walked amongst brands such as Marc Jacobs and Karl Lagerfeld. With the brands success on the catwalk, resulting in a campaign with Harper’s Bazaar – a turning point for the creative duo.

Etienne picks up the story: “We were selected to walk in the show alongside brands such as Marc Jacobs and Karl Lagerfeld. To be chosen was a huge honour and a massive achievement for our brand. What made it more special for us instead of using London based professional models, we brought kids down from Yorkshire, which, along with the amazing clothes gave us a real point of difference.”

Daughters of P Diddy in coats from House of Juniors

The turning point for the children’s designers was when the daughters of American rapper, P Diddy aka Diddy posted an image of his twin daughters wearing the brands signature fur coats on his Instagram. From that moment, the brand skyrocketed, with a spike in sales and thousands of new followers on the House of Juniors Instagram.

The fashion entrepreneurs then reached out to other stars such as Chris Brown and Snoop Dog who also posted photos and videos of their children wearing pieces of the Bradford-based firms fashion line. More recently the brand’s iconic girls pink fur coat was seen in Stormi’s wardrobe on a recent post on Kylie’s Instagram.

Formoy said: “The demand for clothes has been insane since Diddy posted his daughter wearing one of our fur coats. The power of social media has been such an important part of creating awareness for our brand. It was surreal to see the clothes designed by two mums from Yorkshire being worn by the children of Hollywood celebrities. It was these posts that helped take the business to another level. The most surreal moment had to be when Kimora Simmons messaged us on Instagram, inviting us to work with her in LA!”

As a result of the celebrity endorsements celebrity endorsements, demand for the firms products has grown  worldwide, but particularly in America, Europe, the Middle East and parts of Russia.

However like all businesses, the pandemic has had a significant knock-on effect slowing with the supply chain quickly grinding to a halt and stunting the firms growth. But  Formoy, Etienne and Ogrodnik took the opportunity provided by the world slowing down to focus on the brands third collection, which will be available to purchase soon.

Formoy explained: “It was a huge struggle when the pandemic hit as we didn’t have access to our suppliers based overseas. However, we have used the time wisely to develop the range and now there is light at the end of the tunnel.”

The Bradford-based business is continuing its global growth having recently partnered with sports brand PUMA to produce a creative commissioned design collaboration that will reach stores soon across the UK, France, Germany, Ireland and America.

This collaboration aims to involve children in the actual design process and really embeds the idea of being unique, and has led to the children’s brand creating a special adult collection just for the Puma collaboration.

With travel restrictions now expected to ease the brands focus is on the future with the team planning to visit the USA to explore the retail opportunities that they’ve been offered as a result of the celebrity attention.

Etienne adds that the duo’s long-term goals and dreams for the brand are to gain worldwide exposure and success, while also having representation in large luxury retail stores such as Selfridges and Harvey Nichols and a “huge on-line presence”.

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