Rails laden with designer clothes are being wheeled out in front of me by two very helpful assistants, while another adds more glitzy dresses, embellished knits and cashmere coats to the selection.
‘How about the Fendi scarf? It would go perfectly with that Dior coat,’ one of them suggests. She then holds up a black sequined mini-dress: ‘This is fabulous, but we’ll have to see how the colour works – that complexion is begging for pinks and purples.’
Unfortunately, though, it’s not my complexion they’re talking about – and none of these luxurious coats and dresses is for me. In fact, I wouldn’t even fit into them. The are all for my one-year-old daughter Mia.
Among the mega-moneyed mummy set, if you want your baby to look as exquisite on your arm as your Birkin handbag, a personal shopper has become the must-have accessory. At Harvey Nichols, where I have come for Mia’s first personal shopping experience, the stylist tells me: ‘It’s mainly high-powered working women who don’t have time to do it themselves.’ Down the road at Harrods, she says, the clientele is more ‘ladies who lunch’. And it’s not only in London. At Harvey Nichols in Edinburgh, a stylist told me that the personal shopping department sees ‘kiddie’ clients almost every other day.
A pre-school lesson in fashion or disgusting consumerism? Make up your own mind about that. ‘Even when they’re as young as three, they often have a strong opinion on their style – especially the girls,’ one of the Harvey Nichols personal shoppers tells me cheerfully. ‘And the mums we see often end up spending more on their babies than on themselves. The clothes are just so irresistible.’
Million dollar babies: Toddlers are getting designer clothes chosen specially for them by personal shoppers and yummy mummy. And, as I am about to find out, jaw-droppingly expensive.
I first heard about this astonishing trend at my local toddler music class when I happened to notice that Sophia, one of my daughter’s friends, was looking particularly on-trend. As all the mothers were helping their children to dance to Head, Shoulders, Knees And Toes, Anna – Sophia’s mother – lent over and whispered to me: ‘I’ve got a personal shopper. It just makes life so much easier. ‘They make it their business to identify the style gems of the season, so all Sophia’s clothes for the next few months can be done and dusted in a one-hour appointment.’
The way she told it made this utterly ludicrous idea sound like a perfectly practical essential. The celebrities have been onto it for years, and thanks to mini-stars such as Suri Cruise, whose £2million wardrobe of Cavalli couture and bespoke Christian Louboutins regularly makes an appearance in the media, designer kids are more in vogue than ever.
At Harrods, there is a non-negotiable £2,500 minimum spend for personal shopping – even for babies.
But considering its bestsellers this season include a £279 pink Dior blazer and £579 floral Cavalli dress, it’s not hard to see how minted mums rack up a bill in the thousands. ‘One client recently came in for her baby daughter and left with an £8,000 wardrobe,’ a personal shopper from Harrods revealed. So in demand is the service, it’s booked until Christmas. Instead, I’ve come down the road to the equally popular Harvey Nichols. Before the trying-on session begins, I’m asked to complete Mia’s consultation form.
Figure considerations? ‘Short and chubby’, I write. Mia’s favourite designer? Errr. .. H&M?
But H&M does not wash here in London’s exclusive Knightsbridge. So off come her £10 jeans and on goes a scrumptiously soft purple Juicy Couture velour tracksuit. ‘It’s a fabulous colour on her – perfect for around the house,’ the stylist says, which nearly makes me choke.
Surely that’s the job of a £5 Marks & Spencer babygro, not a £100 designer outfit. ‘All you need now is a pair of mini-Uggs or Converses,’ she adds. Another splutter from me – the mini-Uggs cost £40.
Next on is a £110 cream shift dress by Pinko, but the sleeves are far too long. ‘That’s actually the style,’ I’m told. I daren’t point out the obvious difficulty this will cause in the eating department – and the subsequent daily dry-cleaning bills.
Fendi is the latest to cater for the nappy generation, chasing the success of rivals including Little Marc by Marc Jacobs, Chloe BeBe, Sonia Rykiel Enfant, Missoni, Burberry and Armani. Next season, John Galliano is bringing out his first collection for the under-fives.
And it doesn’t stop with designer clobber. There are leather handbags, diamond jewellery, ‘label’ teddies, designer shoes and even posh feeding bottles.
Why flash an Avent label when you can upgrade to Dior for £24, Armani for £29 or Burberry for £40? Lynne Crook, childrenswear buying manager for Selfridges, attributes the designer baby obsession to the media exposure of the ‘Hollywood mini-mes’.
‘Suri Cruise, the Jolie-Pitt clan, Violet and Seraphina Affleck and Gwen Stefani’s children Kingston and Zuma all feature heavily these days in fashion magazines,’ she says. ‘That influences people’s shopping habits.’
Two pairs of Pinko jeans, four tops, two designer dresses, a poncho, a Juicy Couture tracksuit, one smart coat, one casual coat and, £1,010.50 later, and Mia is well equipped for autumn/winter 2009 – at least, in the eyes of the personal shopper.
Down the road at Bonpoint, a children’s boutique in Chelsea, the shelves are stacked with mohair, cashmere, merino wool, sheepskin and fur, including a rabbit-hair coat with an £800 price tag. I hold the grey fluff against Mia, but before I can appreciate the pretty picture, I notice a piece of half chewed apple in her coat collar. ‘Aaapaw,’ she says clapping her hands with excitement at her ingenious storage plan.
With that, I hang up the dead rabbit, head for the door and thank God for creating H&M.
Perhaps if I had all the money in the world – and a lobotomy – I’d be tempted to buy it all. But the truth is that in three months’ time, Mia would have grown out of every one of her designer outfits. And isn’t it just obscene to spend this much money on a child anyway?
Source: Daily Mail
