The Real Cost of $10 Sleepers ☠️
We are just weeks out from our very first trade show, which is coming together beautifully. (Take a peek at how we accidentally made the world’s cutest hangers for the show.) Building this booth has been one of those things that gives you a signal as to where we are culturally in terms of sustainability. We managed to do it (with much research, great partners, and a li’l DIY) but it’s not easy doing a plastic-free trade show booth!
My kids keep asking me why we are going to this show and my answer is simple: to spread the word not just about our brand but why stepping away from fast fashion behemoths and towards ethically sustainable brands is a critical choice for our kids’ future. (Just that. 🙈)
Our team noticed yesterday that an ultra fast fashion retailer is running ads with our brand name, stating that mini mioche is available on their site. First off, obviously not true, but it got me thinking about how much people accidentally ending up there know about why our Dreamy Sleeper Romper costs $54 and their sleeper costs $10.
The answer is in not just the materials used but the treatment of the people who make it.
When you see a $10 baby sleeper, know this: beyond being lower quality materials and making, that product is the outcome of a sketchy and abusive supply chain situation. Whether directly or indirectly, the people making the these products are using sweatshops, child labour, and/or people held in modern slavery conditions. These are people - adults and children - working often 90+ hours a week in unsafe and frightening work environments, all to deliver a fatter bottom line to the ever-expanding machine.
(Fast fashion brands average at 9% higher profit margin that traditional “non-fast” brands, thanks to the low quality materials of their goods and abuse of the humans making them. Congratulations to their shareholders?)
We talk so much about the environmental impact created by fast fashion - the fact that everything is at least part plastic (let’s see that break down in 1000+ years for our great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great grandchildren 😫) and ends up overtaking landfills. But the human cost is just so extraordinarily sad to me. This isn’t something that takes ten generations to resolve. It’s something we could stop… now. I think it’s so quietly hidden in plain sight (does an average person actually even know sweatshops still exist?) - and it’s our job to make that loudly known. 📣
I’d love to know your thoughts on ethical manufacturing. Like everybody else in the world, I have made a million missteps along the way - but we are trying to be the change we want to see and I’m grateful you’re here for the ride. 🙏
And if you’re in the market for some exploitation-free spring gear for the next guardians of this beautiful place we call home, here are some we can barely keep stocked!
We talk so much about the environmental impact created by fast fashion - the fact that everything is at least part plastic (let’s see that break down in 1000+ years for our great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great grandchildren 😫) and ends up overtaking landfills. But the human cost is just so extraordinarily sad to me. This isn’t something that takes ten generations to resolve. It’s something we could stop… now. I think it’s so quietly hidden in plain sight (does an average person actually even know sweatshops still exist?) - and it’s our job to make that loudly known. 📣
I’d love to know your thoughts on ethical manufacturing. Like everybody else in the world, I have made a million missteps along the way - but we are trying to be the change we want to see and I’m grateful you’re here for the ride. 🙏
And if you’re in the market for some exploitation-free spring gear for the next guardians of this beautiful place we call home, here are some we can barely keep stocked!
- All of our shorts are flying out the door - more coming soon but get them before they're gone
- You can't get enough of our tees - we just restocked and more are on the way!
- The Cloud Hoodie is a classic lightweight spring style to give them a layer without the heat
- We love The Cloud Ball Tee for transition weather with its three quarter length, roll-up-able sleeve
sustainable 🍃 ethical 🤝 no 💩
✨ just the best kids clothes for the planet.
Since 2008, we've made the softest, the snuggest, the coziest, the coolest baby, toddler, and kids clothes on (and for) the planet, created ethically at factories that pay employees a living wage, with sustainable materials that don't leave our planet worse off than we found it. We believe in passing it on, and our stuff is built to be beautifully outgrown, resold, and reworn by kid after kid after kid. We make our best basics for their best future, and we're so happy you and your little minimalist are part of the famm.
