Bright mix-and-match prints feature at Catimini, the French children's label founded by Monique and Paul Salmon in 1972. Du Pareil au Même began in 1986 under theatre costume designer Simon Benharrous, offering baby pieces and footwear alongside children's clothing. Asolo's Il Gufo specialises in Italian childrenswear, with its tailoring business dating to the label's beginnings in 1980. Embroidery and jacquard appear alongside crochet in that range, which includes clothing for children from birth to fourteen.
French baby and childrenswear house founded in 1949, credited with an early absorbent-diaper innovation and the fastener-free 'Pyjigotte' pajama; still focused on newborn-to-age-3 essentials — pajamas, bodysuits and soft basics — now under Groupe Royer.
Best for French baby basics — pajamas, bodysuits, and soft essentials
Absorba was launched in 1949 by a founder named Poron, built around an innovative diaper design — a highly absorbent lining inspired by an American model — that was a commercial success from the outset and gave the brand its name. What began as a small family business grew into a widely recognized French layette brand, winning the 'oscar de la puériculture' childcare-industry award in 1959 in recognition of its baby-focused know-how. One of its best-known pieces, the Pyjigotte pajama, dispensed with snaps and zippers entirely and became a signature item as the brand expanded across Europe. More than 70 years on, Absorba remains focused on newborns and children up to age three, emphasizing soft, skin-friendly fabrics across pajamas, bodysuits, sleep sacks and related basics, and now operates as part of Groupe Royer. The brand's online retail presence today runs primarily through theabsorba.com.
French children's clothing label founded in 1972 by Monique and Paul Salmon, known for bright mix-and-match prints for ages 0–14; grew to roughly 100 stores worldwide by the mid-1990s and now belongs to Groupe CWF.
Best for Flower-power print childrenswear from Nantes since 1972
Catimini was founded in 1972 by Monique and Paul Salmon, making brightly printed clothing for children aged 0-14. From 1983 the brand ran a design program staffed by recent graduates of the Beaux-Arts, France's leading art school, feeding its mix-and-match, pattern-heavy aesthetic. It expanded quickly, reaching around 50 stores in 40 countries by 1987 and more than 100 stores worldwide by the mid-1990s. The brand is now part of Groupe CWF (Children Worldwide Fashion). Business records consistently point to Cholet, in the Pays de la Loire region, as Catimini's founding city - not Nantes; Nantes appears in the brand's later retail and business-registration history rather than its founding.
Founded in 1986 by theatre costume designer Simon Benharrous, who found children's fashion drab; the group now runs three lines (Enfants, Bébé, Chaussures) across more than 21 countries.
Best for Playful-print kids clothing, basics, and baby pieces
Du Pareil au Même (often abbreviated DPAM) was founded in 1986 by Simon Benharrous, who had worked as a theatrical costume designer and found the children's clothing available at the time drab, largely because it replicated adult fashion in smaller sizes rather than designing for children specifically. His first shop, opened that year under the Du Pareil au Même name, built its identity around playful prints, bright colors, and pieces conceived as children's clothing in their own right rather than scaled-down adult garments. The company grew into a group with three distinct retail lines: DPAM Enfants for older children, DPAM Bébé for babies and toddlers, and DPAM Chaussures for children's shoes. It has since expanded to more than 400 stores across more than 21 countries, making it one of the larger specialist children's clothing chains to emerge from the 1980s French ready-to-wear boom. The brand has weathered financial difficulty in recent years, including a court-supervised restructuring, but has continued operating and expanding its store network afterward.
Il Gufo grew from a small family business founded in 1980 by Giovanna Miletti in Asolo, near Treviso. She began sewing bibs and crib sheets for her children and then for the village. Her children Alessandra and Guido Chiavelli now run the company, which dresses children up to age 14. Exports account for 60 percent of sales through single-brand and multi-brand stores, and the head office remains in Asolo.
Best for Elegant Italian kidswear.
Il Gufo was founded in 1980 by Giovanna Miletti in Asolo, Italy, near Venice, and has become one of the world's leading producers of luxury clothing for children up to age 14. The family-run enterprise is now driven forward by her children Alessandra and Guido Chiavelli. All garments are handmade in Asolo using exquisite materials selected through ongoing textile research, embellished with epitomizing details such as embroidery, jacquard work, and crochet applications. Il Gufo has achieved worldwide success with an extensive network of monobrand boutiques and multi-brand stores across Italy, Europe, Russia, the United States, and the Far East, with export representing approximately 60% of total turnover. The brand is recognized for meticulous attention to craftsmanship and the smallest details.
Maison Gabel is a family business in Biot whose story began in 1975. Its shop on rue Saint Sébastien sells Provençal table linen under its own brand. Framed and jacquard tablecloths sit beside coated cottons that wipe clean with a sponge. Fabric is sold by the metre, tablecloths can be made to measure, and children's dresses are sewn in the house workshop.
Best for Provençal tablecloths, jacquard linens, and fabric by the meter.
Maison Gabel is a family business in Biot, in the Alpes-Maritimes, whose history began in 1975. The shop at 28 rue Saint Sébastien sells Provençal table linen and fabric by the metre. Its website describes a family transmission that has continued for close to 45 years. The house brand covers framed Provençal tablecloths and jacquard cloths woven in 100 percent cotton with a Teflon protection inside. Coated cottons and coated linens wipe clean with a sponge and can also go in the washing machine. Washed linen tablecloths are offered as the plainer option. Round cloths come in 180 centimetre cotton or coated cotton. Napkins are finished with a simple hem, and tablecloths can be made to measure. The coated coral tablecloth is sewn in the house workshop from a toile de Savoie with a hemmed finish. The children's dresses with their ruffles are made in the same atelier. Fabric by the metre includes printed cotton and jacquard cotton as well as linen, each also available coated. Alongside the textiles the shop carries table linen from Valdrome. There are linen Japanese aprons that cross at the back, along with linen tea towels and cushion covers. Hand-turned ceramics made locally and small scented diffuser boards complete the range. Orders placed online can be collected in the shop through click and collect.
⚒ Kids & Toys · Tablecloths and children's dresses sewn in the Maison Gabel workshop in Biot / France / jacquard fabrics woven in 100 percent cottonORBIS register
Natalys is a French maternity and baby brand founded in Paris in 1953 by the Kelman family on rue Vignon; it designs its own childrenswear, nursery furniture and newborn gifts and sells through its own stores.
Best for French baby clothes, nursery furniture and newborn gifts
Natalys was founded in 1953 in Paris, opening its first shop on rue Vignon under the Kelman family, initially selling clothing for expectant mothers. The brand added its first dedicated babywear collection in 1972 and has since expanded into nursery furniture, decor and newborn gifts alongside maternity and childrenswear. A distinguishing point noted in French retail coverage is that Natalys both designs its own pieces and curates selected partner products, rather than operating purely as a reseller.
The brand today operates as a multi-location French retailer with stores across the country as well as an online shop, positioned toward the higher end of the maternity-and-baby segment.
Noppamas began around 1950 as one woman's backyard incense-making, made for friends and her children's teachers rather than for sale.
Best for Hand-rolled traditional Thai incense sticks from a Bangkok family business
Noppamas began around 1950 as one woman's backyard incense-making, made for friends and her children's teachers rather than for sale. As demand grew, her daughter — later joined by her own daughter, Sureeporn Rohitopakarn — turned the craft into a small trade, selling hand-rolled incense alongside traditional Thai perfume and scented powder from a stall at Bangkok's Wang Saranrom Sunday market. That weekend sideline became a standing incense business around 1960, run across what is now three generations of the same family, and was formally registered as a Limited Partnership in 1991 (per the company's own history page; a secondary directory listing shows 2015, likely reflecting that platform's own join date rather than true incorporation) from its base in Bangkok's Wang Thong Lang district. The house makes traditional Thai joss and fragrance incense sticks by hand-rolling wood powders, resins, and perfumed oils onto bamboo cores in the small-batch, household-scale method still typical of Thai incense production, and now exports beyond the domestic temple and home-altar market that built it. Three generations from a market stall to an exporting manufacturer is a modest but well-documented arc, and a rarer thing in incense retail than the founding claims usually offered without it.
Italian kids' clothing — casual sportswear rooted in 1983 Naples, now spanning newborn through teen sizes across Europe.
Best for Affordable Italian kidswear.
Original Marines was founded in 1983 by five entrepreneurs from Naples with a vision to introduce the American concept of relaxed, leisure-focused dressing to the Italian market. The brand began with a simple white t-shirt inspired by U.S. Marines apparel—that single design sold 25 million pieces within a decade, establishing the label as a benchmark in children's and youth clothing. Today, the company maintains its 100 percent Made in Italy designation and specializes in casual sportswear for newborns, babies, children, and teenagers, organized by age group with separate boys' and girls' collections. Original Marines operates over 500 stores across Italy and maintains a presence in more than 40 countries. The brand was acquired by Pamaf Retail S.r.l., a Naples-based company, underscoring continued regional ownership and commitment. Product categories include t-shirts, pants, shorts, jackets, swimwear, pajamas, and licensed character collections from Disney, Pokémon, and Minions.
Reiss designs contemporary clothing from its London atelier, with collections spanning womenswear and menswear alongside clothing for children. The brand began with a Bishopsgate shop in 1971 and later developed an international network of stores and concessions. Its Regent Street listing highlights occasionwear and more relaxed styles, with accessories offered alongside the clothing.
Best for Contemporary clothing for occasions and everyday wear
Australian smart-casual menswear chain founded 1987 by brothers Stephen and Michael Leibowitz, drawing on South African retailing roots; the name derives from the first two letters of their children's names, now 115+ stores across Australia and NZ.
Best for Australian occasion wear
Tarocash was founded in 1987 by brothers Stephen and Michael Leibowitz, who carried a family background in South African menswear retailing into the Australian market, initially wholesaling smart-casual menswear to other retailers before opening their own stores. Their first store traded under the name 'Cafe,' and by 1991 they had five locations; the brand name Tarocash itself was formed from the first two letters of each of their children's names. The chain grew to fill a gap the founders identified for coordinated, ready-to-wear smart-casual menswear for Australian men, distinct from formal suiting or pure streetwear. Today Tarocash operates as one of the brands within Retail Apparel Group, which is wholly owned by South Africa's Foschini Group, and it runs more than 115 stores across Australia and New Zealand.
The Victoria Falls Women's Curio Market, established in 1981 at the end of Adam Stander Drive past Elephant's Walk, is a cooperative of more than 230 women artisans making handmade arts and crafts. Members describe themselves as children, mothers, grandmothers and great-grandmothers who bring their own children to teach traditional techniques on weekends.
Best for Handmade crafts from a women's cooperative
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