TRALEE PEARCE
From Saturday's Globe and Mail Published on Saturday, Dec. 16, 2006 12:00AM EST Last updated on Tuesday, Mar. 17, 2009 1:36PM EDT
As hip parents of two, retailers Debra Antwi and partner Fred Antwi had toyed with the idea of expanding their successful Queen Street West designer presence to include kids gear, but spending the past year and a half at the helm of their boutique, Kama Kazi, confirmed it. They literally saw the demand rolling by.
"It's crazy -- there are hundreds of strollers out there," she says from inside the new Kama Kazi Kids. "I wondered where they all shopped."
The duo moved their grown-up designer clothing boutique, Kama Kazi, eastward to the location that formerly housed decor store Bullet, and set up the mini-me shop last month. In addition to carefully selected toys and colourful, stylized Italian rocking horses, this is the place to go if you need a poncho, shearling or Chanel-esque tweed for your chic toddler.
But it's not all sugar and spice. As the mother of two boys, Antwi says she is conscious that boys wear often gets short shrift in the kiddie clothing wars. Not here -- there's loads of Belgian and French labels such as Imoga, Chipie and Minisu to go around.
"When people buy gifts, they think only girls want clothes," she says as she pulls out a clever brown and blue cotton sweater for boys with a faux sweater pattern stitched right onto it.
While the vibe in the white modernist shop is decidedly cool, cute hasn't been banished. There's the Les Triples line of clothes based on a classic French cartoon. The triplets -- two girls and a boy -- show up embroidered on such items as a dusty pink cord snowsuit with a pointy hood. The teeny outfits hang in such a way that gift-givers can buy a single item or create matching outfits.
Baby goodies include an organic cotton line called La Queue du Chat, with such wares as a super-soft kimono jacket and snowy white velvet items.
Adult goodies include Michael Kors maternity wear at Kama Kazi Kids. "I picked different styles for each store. These knits with empire lines work as maternity, and after you give birth. You want half-decent clothes even when you don't feel half-decent."
Prices aren't low -- a snowsuit can set you back $135 and a sweater $120, but Antwi says, "This isn't a store about basics. I purposely try to stock outside of plain basics. People come in for party outfits and gift-buying. These are hand-me-down clothes."
One thing you'll want to keep is a baby-foot casting Antwi organizes once a month with an artist. Proceeds from the $225 wee works of art are earmarked for the Sick Kids Foundation.
Kama Kazi Kids, 744 Queen St. W., Toronto, 416-703-0887. (Today, the store's 30 per cent off sale continues.)
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