Essika kids

1. The idea behind the brand and a brief description about you and your background.

Essikakids began in 2015, with a mother's obsession with Pinterest. All the late nights after the birth of a baby are perfect for sitting and a scrolling through endless breathtaking images of fashion and textiles. The beauty and simplicity of Japanese kids wear stole my heart. It was so chic and none of it had any embellishments of any kind. It was just not needed. This was exactly how I wanted my kids to be dressed.

Then I happened upon the beautiful hand loom textiles woven in various craft clusters in India and it was love at first sight. The rough texture and the imperfection of the textiles was so beautiful, it sparked my imagination and the designs just came to me. We officially started selling in June, 2017.

The idea of small batch production, sustainability and eco-consciousness came later. Hand looms pave way for sustainability beautifully. Sustainability basically means that you can keep doing something in a particular way for ever (theoretically) without destroying the environment. And with handloom, you cannot produce thousands of meters instantly. It is naturally produced in small batches. Excessive production doesn't really happen in hand loom, there by the issue of huge inventory sitting around and eventually getting burned is reduced.

This revelation was basically a bonus. People buy the clothes because they like the design and by accident, help a lot of people behind it.

We also use high quality factory surplus fabrics sometimes, giving it new form and new life.

The who :

I'm Merlin, the creative head of Essikakids, an MBA with a huge itch to design and voracious appetite for fashion from a very young age. I am hugely inspired by Indian brands like Pero, Eka, Abraham & Thakore and a whole bunch of international indie brands. I have worked as a brand manager for apparel brands and then went on to teach myself pattern making and professional sewing practices for several years before I started making the first designs. All designs are made and cut by me as of now.

We operate out of a tiny room, with 2 seamstresses and a bunch of hard-working machines.

My own kids model for me (not voluntarily) and they test the items we make by wearing them multiple times.

We love it and hope to remain small and meaningful for a long time to come.

2. What drove you to start this brand? Inspiration? The above answers this question as well.

3. Products that your brand makes/ what age group do they cater to?

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Clothing for boys, girls and toddlers unisex wear for ages 6m to 8 yrs.

4. About the quality of the products used in the brand- and what moms must remember when they use them

The fabrics are hand woven and will not have the same perfection a machine made fabric would have. We love the imperfection and texture of these fabrics – it is unique and stands out in a sea of generic mass produced items. These fabrics should be washed with mild detergents like soap nuts. It will keep them soft and flowy. Dark colors like natural indigo will run for a wash or two. All our items are pre-washed and pre-shrunk to give them a lived in feel and also to take of color bleed so there is no need to fear color bleeding. Colors will fade after a lot of wear but it looks better faded. Natural colors are also best for children's skin .

5. How does one order? We take orders online through our webshop. We are very active on instagram for any queries

6. Pricing? Starts at Rs.600 to Rs.2500

7. Plans next? We will be adding a lot of new styles in organic cotton and also include beautiful hand block prints for festive season.

8. Your brand's USP- how is it different from the other players in the market? Our designs are very unique and timeless. We do not do trendy clothing. We do not shy away from complex designs since we are small and have the flexibility to make them. We are filling the gap in the market for styles that otherwise cannot be found today. We will ONLY use handloom natural dyed or GOTS certified fabrics. Our styles are international and is not limited to ethnic looks that will suit only the indian market.

Some of the images are too big so have been attached as google drive links.

Would also request you to share following things :

Please find images in the attachments.

1.Hi-res product lifestyle images

2. Hi-res model/campaign images & Logo

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Janani S Koushik

Janani brings a certain calmness to any situation and when you are working in an office where estrogen runs high, that is a huge advantage! An engineer by profession but a writer by passion, you will find Janani penning articles or reading long-forms on the internet. Mom of 2 girls, she also loves to sing and cook (sometimes, both together!) in her free time.

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