Wondering what the LamanBlu Summer 2014 collection will look like? At ENK Children’s Club trade show in NYC on August 5th I had the pleasure of interviewing Holli Gibson, Creative Director and Head Designer for LamanBlu. Holli is an industry veteran, who spent much of her career designing clothing for women out of New York and Dallas for high-end retailers including Neiman Marcus and Nordstrom. She is also the recipient of The Rising Star Award from Fashion Group International. LamanBlu is her signature Eco-Friendly Contemporary line for every little Princess and Prince Charming.
Meet LamanBlu Designer Holli Gibson
Watch the video to get a feel for the brand and read a summary of the video interview.
“I’m Holli Gibson and I’m the designer and owner of LamanBlu. We’re an eco-friendly contemporary brand and we have sizes from 6 months up through age 8. We’re a pretty girly twirly collection – all island-inspired.
For Spring Summer 14 we’ve got a couple of collections, all inspired by different areas of the islands. One of our favorite things for Spring are dresses. These are modal and laced dresses. Everything in the collection is machine washable. White is actually great for kids because when they get it dirty you can throw it in the washing machine with a little bit of bleach if you need to and it still comes out looking like this. We like ironing-optional pieces because I’m a mom too and I don’t like to iron.
Here’s another one of our pieces for Spring. It’s got the high low and this comes in pink, white or lilac, and would make a wonderful Summer flower girl dress for a beach wedding.
Here’s another favorite dress for the season in Spring tropical brights from the Caribbean islands. This is done in recyclable polyester blended with organic cotton. It’s very eco-friendly, easy to machine wash, colors don’t bleed, holds up well, and twirls like crazy!
Linen is great for kids. These dresses are inspired more by the Nantucket and Northern coastal areas. Linen is wonderful because its PH balanced for a child’s delicate skin. Kids who have skin problems can wear linen very effectively. Also, every part of the plant is used. And did you know, that if you throw it in the washing machine, then the dryer and pull it out promptly, you don’t have to iron it? These dresses you’re seeing were done exactly that way.
This is one of our favorite brother sets because brother needs a few classically smart styled things too. This is our all linen camp shirt that’s nice and cool. We’ve paired it with our seersucker Bermuda shorts. We can also do these in blue if you want a little more color for your little man.”
White on White is an important trend for the season for both children’s and women’s apparel. “There is nothing sweeter than a child in all white – they look so angelic! Easy enough to clean when it’s solid white with just a little bleach too!” says Gibson.
LamanBlu Children’s Collection
You can expect a nice juxtaposition between White on White and exotic colors in Spring/Summer 14. Candy Coated colors will find it’s way into yummy modal knits and cotton candy weight lace in pale pinks and lavenders.
As an avid diver herself, Holli has created her ‘Island Folk’ theme, where tropical colors mix bright printed knits. Seersucker stripes can be found mixed with, as always at LamanBlu, washable linens, making laundry day a breeze.
