Pirouette blog — Rent, Love, Return, Repeat

Exclusive rental subscription service for designer baby and kids’ fashion.

There are lots of interesting new platforms launching in the kids’ fashion & design sector currently. Set to launch on the 1st of June – Babu aims to be UK’s first rental subscription service focusing exclusively on designer baby and kids’ fashion. Founders Alice Horlick, Bella Nesselrode and Georgia Lombard were inspired to launch Babu after discovering first-hand how quickly their children and friends’ children grew out of their clothes.

Designed for boys and girls aged between 0-4 years, Babu offers monthly drops of 10-15 carefully curated luxury pieces ranging from casualwear and partywear to outerwear. Clients enjoy the selection for four weeks before being replaced with a brand new edit. Interesting….

Subscriptions cost £60 per week, working out at less than £0.75 per garment per day, and subscriptions can be paused or ended at any time thanks to Babu’s weekly billing cycles. Babu has also partnered with DHL, the pioneers of green logistics, to offer free delivery and returns, with Babu collections shipped in biodegradable and recyclable packaging.

babu platform for kids fashion rental - rental subscription service 0- 4 years

More info…

So who curates the offerings? well Babu is working with well-known stylists and mum influencers including Gayle Rinkoff, Louise Roe and Mary Charteris, to curate these monthly capsule collections – offering a ‘personal shopping for your child’ style experience. Each collection is made up of current and past season pieces from Babu’s exclusive roster of brand partners, who include Balmain, Caramel, Emilio Pucci, Gant, Il Gufo, Roberto Cavalli, Stella McCartney, Tartine et Chocolat, Tommy Hilfiger and more, with partnerships founded on shared quality and sustainability values.

What about the usage & cleaning? Babu aims for garments to be rented an average of 12 times: all are cleaned and disinfected in-house upon each return using a proprietary state-of-the-art eco-friendly cleaning system. The process includes wet cleaning and ozone technology which delivers a better quality clean that is kinder to skin, clothes and the environment, all run on 100% green energy. Babu has gone further than any other rental platform in their commitment to sustainability. Once garments reach the end of their useful lives, rather than relying on traditional outdated textile recycling infrastructure, Babu passes them on to their sustainable impact partner Xetrov, who converts the pieces into renewable energy in a cutting-edge advanced thermal treatment process. This clean energy can then be used in a variety of ways including for power, heating, cooling, drying and food production.

Babu clothing Ltd
https://babu.clothing

Katie Kendrick

Katie is a specialist in kids’ fashion and lifestyle, editor, consultant, content creator, and owner of Pirouette - a leading resource to the industry.

With a keen interest in both the business and creative aspects of the industry Katie has interviewed buyers, agents, stylists, designers, influencers, covered runway shows, produced trade show reports and curates thought provoking and engaging exhibitions.

She is passionate about good design, creativity and brands that manage to combine this with their environmental responsibility.

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