Mightly has some exciting news to share . . . our “No Nasties” Pajama Sets were recently awarded Best PJs of 2020 by the National Parent Product Awards (NAPPA)!
To celebrate, we thought it would be fun to tell the story of what goes into making our PJs and why they have become a Mightly staple. Barrie Brouse, Mightly’s Creative Director, gives us some insight into our team’s creative process and pj production, below.
For over 20 years, I have been designing children’s clothing, but only about the last eight years have been as a mom. Suffice it to say, my idea of what’s most important and what makes for great design has changed dramatically over the years. As a designer, I am constantly thinking about the visual aspects in creating products. However, beyond color and style details, there is functionality and composition. This comes into play especially when sleepwear is concerned. My priority as a mom has me constantly thinking about what touches my kids’ skin during sleep (or let’s face it, how many of us have kids that stay in pjs all day?!)
Shopping for sleepwear can be tricky and for good reason. The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) has regulations regarding what is safe for babies and kids to wear for sleep and lounging. If you aren’t careful, you can end up buying pajamas made with all sorts of toxic chemicals and flame retardants, not to mention fabric consisting of plastics and other harmful components that can be irritating to the skin and bad for the environment. I am constantly asked the question: “Are all kids’ pajamas made with nasty and toxic chemicals?” The simple answer is “Absolutely not!” The not-so-simple answer is, “Check your labels, because you may be surprised by what you find". Here is some great news - our Mightly No Nasties PJ Sets are made from certified organic cotton and made in a Fair Trade Certified factory. Our snug-fit styling is compliant with all government standards for fire safety, which means that we don’t use any toxic chemicals. Most importantly, our pajamas keep kids safe and comfortable all night long. Our fabrics and fits are tested for quality and durability, and, believe me, our own kids let us know when something isn’t quite right. However, that’s only the beginning to what makes our pajamas great for kids--here’s where the fun starts! As a designer, I start the season thinking about color combinations and patterns that make me happy. Sometimes it is an unexpected pop of bright colors next to a basic and neutral stripe. Our Gray Stripe PJ is one of my favorites, and it came to be in a surprising way. I had my fabric swatches laid out with different Pantone chips side by side, trying to not only come up with the perfect combination, but narrow down my choices to just one. I liked the idea of giving a nod back to our colorful and multi-colored Mightly logo, and with this came the idea of having a mix-up of contrast rib colors for the neck, sleeve and leg cuffs…Voila!
As my family and friends would agree, I love animal prints! Nature has a beautiful way of providing us with just the perfect patterns and I never shy away from adding in a leopard skin or cheetah print into any collection given the spot! These prints are something I could draw and color every day. So far, we have a few cheetah and leopard prints in our collection, but there’s plenty more room for the cool cat and kitten lovers.
When we talk about basics, we can’t forget stripes and I’m a big fan. During my years working with the iconic Marimekko print house on licensed clothing, I learned that stripes are just as important as large and graphic florals. I’ve always enjoyed a classic nautical color combination, but also love seeing kids mixing and matching tops and bottoms to create favorite combinations. My boys are never short on imagination and at an early age, started naming colors of clothes, stuffies and other keepsakes based on associations. For example, my younger son uses a beautiful hand block printed pillow case from Kerry Cassill. He refers to it as his “storm pillow” because it’s a gentle mix of layered grays that remind him of a storm.
At a certain age, kids start developing their own style preferences, knowing what feels right on their bodies, and what helps them express their individuality. At Mightly, we think about this and try to adhere to these guidelines: our fabrics are always super soft, we don’t use itchy tags, and we construct the tops and bottoms to have flat seams and stretchy rib knit for neck, arm and leg cuffs to give comfort and ease for dressing.
Mightly Pajama Sets are simply the best, but don’t just take our word for it . . . the National Parent Product Awards agrees!
#MightlyMe #NAPPAAWARDS #FairTradeCertified
