introducing: valya kids!!

Say privet to Valya Kids!!

Just typing this out gives me massive butterflies. It feels surreal to finally be talking about something that feels like my third baby!! 

About a year ago my mum was helping me fold the kid's laundry and said to me "Do you realize that the way you dress the kids is so similar to the way I used to dress you guys when you were little? Is that intentional?" And I thought about it and for the first time it clicked!! I've always taken an overzealous interest in kids clothing and specifically sought out brands that evoked another era. I've always liked clothes that were simple, classic, well-made but fun and colorful too. I've spent inordinate amounts of time combing through the internet looking for specific shoes, sweaters and tights. And yet... and yet there was this dress, this top, this skirt or pair of pants that I could never find. Something that lived inside my imagination and didn't exist in reality. 

Until I decided to start putting pen to paper and making those dreams come true. And I drew, and I combed through boxes full of sepia toned photos and I looked through hundreds of fabric swatches until they all began to melt into one. I was determined to ensure that I could bring you a product that was beautiful, comfortable, evocative, fun and of the best quality. And then one sunny spring morning Valya Kids was born. 

There are so many ways to tell a story. With words. With music. With our hands. For decades my grandmother used her weathered hands to stitch a story of resilience, strength and perseverance. Her eyes had seen so much pain but from her fingers sprang forth fluffy hats and cozy sweaters. Pink and blue booties that would patiently sit atop dressers waiting for their squishy pink owners to arrive into this world. The click and clack of those needles and squeal of the sewing machine wheel are sounds I will always associate with babushka Valya.

For over sixty years she supported her family of six children and a husband that was often away for work with the children’s clothing she knit and sewed. You would be hard pressed to find someone in her village that didn’t grow up wearing her handmade creations. And eventually my daughter, Valya, was lucky enough to be the recipient of her handiwork.

I’ll never forget the day the two little hats came in the mail. I sat in my rocking chair, in an empty nursery and placed the hat on my blossoming belly. I rocked back and forth and dreamed of seeing my little one wearing something that was so much more than a hat. It would be a legacy… A passing of a torch. And perhaps it was then that the first seeds of Valya Kids was planted.

Babushka Valya has passed away but she lives on in the eyes of our Valya. And now here – a place that will always pay homage to the humble, hardworking, creative and fearless woman that babushka Valya was. Our clothes are meant to bring joy to children, to harken to a time when children spent their days outside – eating fruit off the trees, wearing the soles of their shoes down running around until the sunset called them home. To a time when you knew where your food came from because you planted it yourself, cars were a novelty and there was one television in your entire neighborhood.

We're starting small this season but dreaming big for the spring. With your support I hope to bring you a plethora of dresses, rompers, shorts and tops for your littles ones to enjoy all spring and summer long next year! 

And I am so excited about revealing our official launch date with you today - September 23!!!

Look out for lots of fun giveaways and collaborations in the next few weeks!

Thank you from the bottom of my heart to everyone that supported me on this journey and special thanks to the incredibly talented Dasha Crawford for these stunning images that made me cry the first time I saw them!