Tiny sizes, grown-up prices

Several high-end labels launch collections for kids

June 23, 2011|By Christopher Muther, Globe Staff

The Gucci childrens collection starts at $80 and tops out at $1,600.

There are plenty of events where children have the opportunity to get dolled up — Christmas, Passover, a visit to the critical mother-in-law’s house (“When was the last time that child had a bath? Clearly this one takes after your side of the family!’’).

Still, unless you’re parenting Suri Cruise, kids’ dress-up clothes are generally purchased on the cheap with the intention that they will be handed down after suffering the wrath of chocolate birthday cake or sippy cup juice stains. Children are less aware of labels and more aware that they’d rather dress like a Disney princess.

In a move that is both brilliant and stupefying, several high-end fashion labels are launching, or have already launched, pricey collections for children. Gucci, Versace, Fendi, Stella McCartney, and Lanvin are creating lines featuring tot-size pieces that sell for hundreds, and in some cases thousands, of dollars. The Lanvin collection was launched a couple of weeks ago in Paris. Gucci unveiled its posh pixie line last fall with an ad campaign starring Jennifer Lopez and her twins frolicking on the beach in their casual Gucci finery. Most parents would be nervous wrecks watching their kids roll around in the sand in Gucci. JLo is grinning ear-to-ear.

Beware, however, that the tiny pieces don’t mean tiny prices. Far from it. The Gucci line starts at $80 and tops out at a stunning $1,600, a price tag only Suri and her very-well-heeled ilk could afford. But then, that is exactly the customer base that the fashion houses are courting. And it appears that the demand for such high-end offerings is growing. After a few slumping years, sales of luxury goods are expected to increase by nearly 10 percent in Europe and the Americas this year, according to Bain & Company’s “Spring 2011 Update: Luxury Goods Worldwide Market Study.’’

“Luxury has made a brilliant return to the retail stage,’’ writes Claudia D’Arpizio, a Bain partner in Milan and lead author of the survey. That growth is also expected in the Middle East and Asia.

Of course if a child’s first word is “Versace,’’ there’s a pretty good chance for lifelong brand loyalty. It remains to be seen if adults, still mired in a weak economy, will feel confident and magnanimous enough to spend such big bucks on their little moppets.