One Jackson crowd sources designs for children’s clothing line
Any parent who shops at Old Navy or the Gap sees the usual selection of skinny jeans and T-shirts emblazoned with skateboards and cheeky slogans. There’s a sameness to the rough-and-tumble designs of boy’s clothing that is particularly underwhelming to the fashion-forward mom who strives to not only dress her child but dress him well.
But a new online boutique is broadening the field for children’s clothing. One Jackson crowd sources its collections, allowing designers with fresh ideas to showcase new styles and potential buyers to vote on what they like. The top picks are manufactured and offered for sale through the site, which went live Tuesday.
Co-founded by Gia Russo and Michele Adams, both of whom are mothers to 6-year-old boys in L.A., and two other women in Palo Alto, One Jackson is launching its clothing line with two fall collections for boys ages 2 through 6. Its urban line is a mix of candy-colored skinny jeans, plaid hoodies and graphic tees in a palette of teals, grays and blacks. The bohemian collection features cardigan sweaters and relaxed-fit trousers in dark browns and pumpkin. A selection of backpacks, beanies and caps are offered as accessories. Each item costs $16 to $42.
About 1,400 designers have signed up with the site to post styles responding to a challenge that provides a theme, a color palette and a description of the type of kid who would wear the clothes. One Jackson then opens the site for a seven-day vote. Russo and Adams curate the winning designs.
“Moms love having a say in what’s new and what they like, and this just gives them another platform to be able to do that. They feel like they’re part of the process from beginning to end,” said Russo, who first met Adams in New York when the two were editors at Martha Stewart Living in the 1990s. After moving to Los Angeles, they formed the company MiGi, through which they consulted with companies such as Baby Gap and Janie and Jack. In 2006, MiGi branched out into nursery decor.
They launched One Jackson to help fill “a huge void in the marketplace,” Russo said. “It’s tough to find fashion-forward clothing for boys that’s affordable and made well.”
One Jackson clothing will be manufactured in the United States, Peru and Asia at the same factories that produce contemporary women’s lines for Tory Burch, Theory and Rag and Bone, she said.
One Jackson plans to release between eight and 10 collections each year. It will begin offering clothing for girls with its holiday collection this winter.
