TWO mums from Bradford have seen their luxury unisex children's wear brand created at home filling children's wardrobes of A-list celebrities including P Diddy, Kylie Jenner, and Snoop Dogg.
Natasha Formoy and Chantelle Etienne, both 32, and childhood friends worked from Natasha’s home alongside their full-time jobs as social care workers to create the children’s clothing brand, House of Juniors - aimed at children aged five to 16.
The entrepreneurial duo joined forces with now head designer, Kamila Ogrodnik, 26, who, alongside Natasha, focused on developing the brand's design and has since become a partner in the business.
In 2018, House of Juniors were chosen to showcase their products at Mini Mode, the official children's runway at London Fashion Week, where they walked among brands like Marc Jacobs and Karl Lagerfeld.
On the back of the success of their catwalk, they were awarded a campaign with Harper's Bazaar, and this became a turning point for the creative duo.
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, Jessie and D’lila, wearing the brand's 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 Hollywood A-list stars such as Chris Brown, Snoop Dogg and Kimora who also posted photos and videos of their children wearing pieces of their fashion line.
Their girls pink fur coat was seen in Stormi’s wardrobe on a recent post on Kylie’s Instagram.
Natasha, of Heckmondwike, 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!
Chantelle added: "We have seen our pink coat in Stormi’s wardrobe on Kylie’s Instagram and we are hoping it will make an appearance in this season of keeping up with the Kardashians!’
Since these celebrity endorsements, demand for sales has been worldwide, mainly in America, Europe, the Middle East and parts of Russia.
As with any business, Coronavirus has had a significant knock-on effect on the Brand's development and growth as the supply chain quickly ground to a halt.
"Before Coronavirus hit the UK, House of Juniors had already produced two collections available worldwide.
"The pandemic gave them the time to work on their third collection, which will be available to purchase from next month."
House of Juniors have 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 embodies the idea of being unique and creative.
Now the pandemic is easing, House of Juniors are itching to get themselves to the USA to explore retail opportunities that they were offered before and during Coronavirus but have not been able to explore fully due to the travel restrictions.
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