Hi Little One
Paint Your Plate addicts, take note. Kids apparel company Hi Little One will soon let kids paint their own t-shirts, too.
Founders and Minnesota-raised sisters Maggie Allen and Nell Lindquist launched their custom-order children’s clothing business with a Kickstarter campaign in 2015. The company is their answer to the search for the perfect baby shower gift – personalized T-shirts, onesies, hats, and more, with modern typography, and cheeky sayings like “Straight Outta Preschool” or the timeless older sibling mantra, “I WAS HERE FIRST.”
The color-your-own idea debuted during open house events at the company’s new Denver digs last fall. It was an instant and unexpected hit. “We pulled out the idea as an activity to keep kids busy while their parents shopped, but quickly learned that the kid-designed t-shirts were the highlight of the visit,” Allen says.
Budding artists and fashion designers can draw, paint, or decorate a printed online template to their heart’s content. (A plain sheet of paper will do, too.) Then parents or grandparents mail it in or snap a photo, choose which product to print it on, and receive it in the mail a few weeks later. Allen and Lindquist hope it will inspire kids to be themselves and to keep pursuing their artistic interests.
“The Color Your Own collection allows kids to show off their skills,” Allen says. “It allows them to be in charge of their own design, and gives them the independence and freedom to be who they want to be.”
Hi Little One’s Color Your Own collection launches on April 4 with T-shirts, onesies, and totes—just in time for Mother’s Day.
Hi Little One designs ($7-35), available at hilittleone.com
