Kids #Denim Spotlight: Blue Rebel & Blue Effect

Don’t get me wrong, USA has been the launchpad for some pretty stellar denim brands. But in the children’s wear market, it has generally lacked in innovation and style. As a denim designer, I am pretty impressed with these two denim labels showing up at the upcoming Pitti Florence show (details below)

Blue Rebel – Blue Rebel jeans is the statement denim brand for kids based in the Netherlands. They realize they push the boundaries a bit but isn’t that the whole point?
To stand out.  In denim, it’s hard to reinvent the wheel but these guys are doing things ‘to stand out’ for sure. They draw most of their inspiration from vintage styles, paying close attention to authentic details and washes. And it shows in their Girls S/S collection:

Blue Effect is a relatively new collection based out of Germany which specializes in children’s denim. The current collection features a variety of different styles, washes and even pastel sun-bleached colors, but what I found most interesting were the attention to details in the overall design, construction and of course-the wash. Wash and detail techniques such as this are rarely seen on girls and tween denim in the USA. Not because they aren’t wanted, but due to costs, most manufacturers resist too much wet and dry processes.  As a result, most denim we see in America for Girls is Old Navy, Mossimo and Forever 21 basics.

Blue Effect is a German-Turkish partnership with private production company in the European part of Istanbul. All products are Made in Europe.

These brands a whole bunch of others (including Crocs and Guess Kids) will be showing their collections at SuperStreet in Florence Italy at Pitti Bimbo, which is the section that highlights the universe of denim and streetwear for juniors and teens.