High Fashion for Little Ones

By Gordon M. Henry

Most parents understandably want their children to stand out in the crowd of youngsters who are flocking into schools these days. And for some mothers and fathers, money is no object. Lili Gross, 32, makes a monthly expedition to Fred Segal, a Los Angeles clothing shop, where she spends up to $300 on surfer shorts, Japanese print shirts and other exotic duds for her five-year-old son Brandon. Joel Stillman, 38, and his wife Renee, 38, of suburban Detroit spent $800 on smart-looking ski outfits and equipment for their son Jonathon, 11, and daughter Sara, 8. Karen Topalian, 40, bought her daughter Kendra, almost 2, a $120 yellow pima cotton frock. Says Topalian, who lives in Cohasset, Mass.: "I love my children to look nice."

Indeed, more and more parents seem to want their children to look not only nice but striking and even chic. This trend has created a boom for sellers of upscale children's clothes and accessories. At Baby Boxers, a Los Angeles manufacturer, items like $28 print shirts have pushed sales to more than $700,000 in the firm's first eight months. Says Co-Owner Jaye Bernstein: "Our business has just exploded." Many companies that made their name in adult apparel are now moving into the children's market. Esprit, a popular label founded in San Francisco in 1971, began its Esprit/Kids line in 1982, and the division will account for some 20% of the company's projected 1986 sales of $800 million.

To be sure, the surge in trendy children's goods is part of a broader prosperity in the baby business. The post-World War II baby-boom generation is now passing through its peak childbearing years; between 1980 and 1984, the number of American children under age five grew from 16.3 million to 17.8 million. The increase has brought good times for most children's clothing manufacturers, including traditional leaders like Wisconsin-based Oshkosh B'Gosh (1985 sales: $162 million). Demand for products like its sturdy overalls has almost doubled in the past two years.

But for many parents, plain old dungarees will not do. At Annelise Plehn's Just So boutique in Washington, D.C., for example, some customers are willing to spend $483 for a pink silk taffeta party dress for eight-year-olds. Comments Stuart Robbins, a retail analyst with the Donaldson Lufkin & Jenrette investment firm: "Children's apparel and accessories are now a fashion business, not the commodity business they were when the baby-boom generation was growing up."

Some modern moms and dads--not to mention doting grandparents--are shelling out large sums for the top-of-the-line trappings of babyhood. At least a few infants are sleeping in 24-karat-gold-plated cribs, which Lewis of London, a New York City-based chain, sells for $1,995. Clown, a children's store in Chicago, offers a $42 sterling-silver toothbrush. And thousands of tots are being wheeled around in sleek Aprica strollers from Japan, which cost up to $350.

Industry experts offer several reasons explaining why parents spend so lavishly on their little darlings. For one thing, many baby-boom mothers put off having children to pursue their careers and are only now having their first babies. And in most cases, couples buy more things for their firstborn than for younger siblings. Moreover, some two-career couples apparently try to make up for not spending enough time at home with their youngsters by showering them with fancy additions to their wardrobes.

Though parents pay the bills, precocious youngsters often insist on making decisions in matters of taste and style. Partly because of their exposure to TV and music videos, retailers say, the kiddies can be adamant about what is and is not in vogue. Notes Susanna Hart, manager of Little Me in suburban Atlanta: "The child comes in and says, 'This is what I want. I won't wear anything else.' These are very opinionated children."

But much of the demand for chic clothes originates with the parents. "Some people like to dress their kids up and parade them around for presentation," says Esprit President Douglas Tompkins. In fact, a well-dressed child may be the ultimate status symbol. Observes Dal Dearmin, a vice president at the advertising firm of Quinn & Johnson/BBDO: "Kids are the BMWs of the '80s." If upwardly mobile parents see things that way, the market for $400 dresses and gold-plated cribs may keep right on growing.

With reporting by Scott Brown/Los Angeles and Raji Samghabadi/New York, with other bureaus