Designing – What Inspires You? November 4, 2009

 

Designing: Inspiration – What Inspires You?

 

What inspires you? What makes you think in the morning when you get up? What are you thinking about when you are getting ready for work?

 

These are all thoughts. Do you have a thought journal? Do you have a place where you right down all your ideas?

 

So, if you want to know how I am inspired – food, colors, thoughts, people, air, plants, ideas, philosophical concepts, spirituality, teachings, and life inspire me.

 

Sounds like a lot.  But these are all the little things that go into a Sama Baby collection.

 

Leave a comment. I’d love to know what inspires you to wake up every morning too!

-Neha

Sama Baby supports Local Elementary School! November 2, 2009

We support local schools!
West U Elementary Bazaar:

I want to tell you about the beauty of talking to your neighbors, and how things can work out organically! One of my neighbors had mentioned that their son goes to West U Elementary.  I thought that was pretty interesting, and one day they needed a ride to go pick him up.  I offered, as I thought it would be nice to see the school – and helped him get his son! In the process, we ran into a set of parents that were also picking up their kids – and my neighbor was mentioning that I owned an organic baby line called Sama Baby.  The parents immediately responded and said, “I read about you on the front page of our community newspaper a few months ago – congratulations – that is so cool!”  I had no idea how much people actually remembered reading that article – as it was posted in December of 2008!  After that, my neighbor proceeded to put Sama Baby postcards at West U – at a little table in the front area.  After three days,  he went back just to see if people had picked any up, and there were only three left. How crazy is that?  If you know that your school has any little area for postcards, please let us know by commenting – and we would love to have you put postcards with a discount at your school.  Moms apparently love our postcards, and think they are so interesting – as it talks about who we are, why we do what we do, and what clothing we have to offer!

BIRTH FAIR Houston – Wrap Up! October 30, 2009

BIRTH Fair took place at United Way from 11am-4pm in Houston, Texas. The event was focused on BIRTH, and all the opportunities and ways you can get involved in Houston – with midwives, doulas, and birth centers. It was amazing to meet so many other female business owners in Houston – who were focused on children, natural approaches to birth, and organic.  We had a wonderful little fashion show featuring 15 models in Sama Baby. It was daunting, but being the MC was quite a bit of fun – I spoke about each outfit, as well as each child’s favorite activity! One kid’s favorite food was tofu and broccoli. Sounds like my kind of kid!

BIRTH FAIR

Many moms purchased Sama Baby outfits, and were so excited to see such young entrepreneurs focused on all natural, and organic products for children. It was also wonderful to build a partnership with Bay Area Birth Center – the same area I grew up in when I was a young child in Houston.  They will be putting postcards in each of their birth bags, and leave our postcards at the front with discount codes for moms in the area! We love parterning, and if you are a midwife, doula, birth center, boutique, wellness center, we would love to cross-promote and partner together!  We even built some relationships with West U Wellness and are going to talk about doing a fun little Bollywood Green Chai Chat for their center – since I have grown up in West U for such a long time!

BIRTH Fair was a wonderful way to connect with other moms, and other hospitals, mom groups, and much more!

 

 

Do you care about the impact a product makes? October 29, 2009

Organic Cotton? How do you make a garment out of this?

Cotton Fields in India

To this product?

After my travels to India over the past three years and researching at trade shows regarding organic cotton – I have found so many different versions of organic, that I thought I might just let the bloody truth out of the bag.

 

So, what does it mean to go organic when it comes to fabrics? You deserve to hear it from an expert.  Sama Baby has been part of the Organic Exchange and many other certified organic organizations focusing on defining and bringing awareness to organic textiles.

 

1. Did you know that when you take your child to the doctor, for issues regarding eczema, skin rashes, skin diseases, or skin irritations, one of the FIRST things they recommend is switching to organic cotton?  I do not understand, why do they not preach early on as preventative care for babies to wear organic cotton? Why is it always a remedy AFTER the fact?

 

So how do we produce an organic cotton garment at Sama Baby? Well, first of all, Shivani and I go straight to the mouth of where it is being created. India. We go OURSELVES.

 

When we go there, we hand-pick our factories that we work with.  I would say that probably 1 out of 5 of our competitors are as hands-on as we are.  We work so closely with our factories, that we even have a family-owned factory that we produce some of our garments in.  That is the level of quality we expect in every aspect of our lives, and therefore, deliver that level of excellent quality to you.

 

We make sure that our organic cotton is grown in a specific area – away from conventional cotton.  The cotton is then grown with absolutely no pesticides, no chemicals, no fertilizers, nothing. Everything that touches that cotton is organic, water, earth, sun, and happiness!

 

Another aspect to organic cotton – that most people forget, is the dyeing process. People forget that to create a garment, it is not just about the actual fabric, it is about the PROCESS.

 

Then, that cotton is taken to the factory, and spun into threads and weaved into fabric.

 

With our fabrics, we use the highest level of eco-friendly dyes in the market.  These are the most gentle dyes available, so that your baby’s skin is well protected.

 

The fabric is later taken to the factory to create each garment. Our factory has employees of age, pay fair wages, and work in a clean environment.  In addition, some of our workers actually have the opportunity to stay for classes in the evening, and have a safe home near the factory to live, if needed.

Yarns and Weaving

Our factory is also partially powered by wind and solar energy – another little factor that makes Sama Baby organic and green start to finish!

 

So, that is how we make an organic cotton garment at Sama Baby.

 

Remember, it is the journey and process that matters when it comes to creating a product. How much of an impact are we making when creating a Sama Baby product? Who’s lives are we effecting in the process, and the customer?  These are all HUGE questions when you are buying from a small business – and are all integral in the way we work at Sama Baby!

Journey and Process

 

 

The Day in the Life of a Children’s Fashion Designer – and no, not like Paris Hilton Style! October 28, 2009

You may think that the way I design may be similar to this:

Paris Hilton and Little Child!

But.. I don’t. I dont create miniature versions of adult clothing… which is the misconception – Sama Baby is a playful, childish line with a beautiful inspiration from India!

So, as a designer of a children’s clothing line – I have been looking at the trends of which moms buy products. Sometimes I even ask moms in airports, boutiques, grocery stores – why did you put that on your child? (of course, in an inquisitive manner, not insulting!) What is it about that garment that makes your child comfortable, and what is your favorite silhouette?  Now, I know that may be weird to you – but who knows – you might be sitting next to me on a plane with your cute little one, and I might ask you these same questions.

I have figured out a few things that moms focus on. If you have any other suggestions, please comment because I will incorporate it into my next collection.  Every mom’s voice counts when it comes to Sama Baby!

1. Accessibility – how easily can I slip this on and off my child?
2. Comfort – how comfortable is my child in this? Does this make them itch? Are they allergic?
3. Size – does this fit my child well? Too well? Too loose?
4. Warmth – will this garment keep my child at the right temperature – keep them warm when needed or, keep them cool when needed?
5. Price – is this a good price for the quality I am getting?
6. Design – is this designed with good materials? Is it beautiful? How will my child look in this garment?

So, these are the top six pointers I use when designing a collection. Every single garment I create, I use these points to figure out how to create something that is beautiful, well-priced, comfortable, and easy access.

October 1, 2009

Hello Everyone!

I thought I might give you a sneak peak into a cute denim line that we are launching in the next few months!

So after our wonderful trip to Vegas this year at ABC Kids show – we met with the team of Droolicious – who was very excited to see our latest edition – our organic cotton denim line!

Check out what they had to say:

This year, the women from Sama Baby showed me a great pair of organic jeans for kids, at a price that might be the best around.

The organic denim from Sama Baby is made of completely organic cotton, with eco-friendly dyes and all the other care you’d hope would go into an organic product. Sama Baby is unique in that they have direct control of their textile manufacturing, so they can personally guarantee the quality. But like I said, the best part is the price – $40. It certainly isn’t the cheapest pair of toddler jeans you can buy, but if organic clothes is something that matters to you, you should definitely check it out.

http://blogs.babble.com/droolicious/2009/09/18/abc-kids-expo-2009-organic-jeans-for-kids-from-sama-baby/

Xoxo,

Your favorite head designer at Sama Baby

Oprah, Sama Baby, Aishwarai Rai and Abhishek Bachan! September 30, 2009

So, you may not know, but Oprah is one of my favorite shows to watch.  Did anyone watch Oprah yesterday? Of course, one of the best shows I’ve watched in a while from her!

Oprah featured Bollywood, not for the first time this year, but the SECOND! She had Aishwarai Rai Bachan and Abhishek Bachan on her show – talking about how hot India is – how festive the culture was, and how interesting it is.

As someone who has grown up here with an Indian background – it has been wonderful to watch the unveiling of Indian culture! It is wonderful how welcoming Oprah is and opening up everyone’s perspective on some of the most major actors around the world!

Our inspiration for Sama Baby  – Organic cotton baby clothing is straight from India. The rich colors, the prints, the ideas behind our design are specifically straight from my culture.

I am so happy to see that our culture is so beautifully accepted and expressed – and everyone loves the how exotic and festive our culture is!

I wanted to give you an inspirational trek on how I designed one of our items!

If you see our kimono top with beautiful ruffles, I used the ancient motif of the paisley.  If you look at Aishwarai’s sari on the show – she is wearing a beautiful sari that features beautiful paisleys.  She is sticking to traditional motifs and prints – beautiful little embroidered motifs that feature Indian culture!

Our kimono top is rooted from Indian motif design featuring the paisley, the organic nature by including little specs of green leaves, and the western favorite colors of chocolate and pink for little girls.
This piece was a way for me to combine the whimsical style of a kimono top, with my passions and culture!

look at the paisleys at the bottom of her outfit!

Sama Baby Paisley Print!

Xoxo,

Your Favorite Head Designer

Chicks who Click, I mean Chicks Who Clink, Bottomless Wine is Belly Bliss! January 10, 2009

Colorado Road Trip - Beautiful Roads!

Day 2: Starting at 7 AM, we headed straight over to Ft. Collins, and if you really want to hear a crazy day read this..

So of course, being the workaholics that we are, we decided to fit in everything we could imagine into one day..

Met with Clothes Pony – a baby boutique we would rate 5 out of 5 in terms of awesome selection of toys, classes, clothes, and passionate individuals that love their store – and unique lines. We met them at ABC Kids, but it was even better to see them in person one on one!

Then of course, driving around N College Ave, we found some great stores like Eco Logic. Apparently the Colorado state has created these Eco stores that are all encompassing from kitchen gadgets all the way to of course fashionable baby clothes – which is where we fit in, affordable, luxury organic baby clothes – which you can find at http://www.samababy.com
We literally did a drive by quick run in to show the line, feel the samples, give a catalogue and head out. Same with another cute boutique that really liked our Lucky Elephant Collection! (An ORGANIC Drive-By!)

Of course, met with our yummy Whole Foods at Ft. Collins who carries our line – it was great to meet our stores that carry us. I think meeting one on one is really what makes us stand out, and sets us apart. We are passionate, authentic, and excited – and they can really feel it – we work with them. And, of course pick up yummy Whole Foods sandwiches that lasted us four hours..

Then we headed back about 80 miles to Cherry Creek in Denver and stopped by a super cute boutique that had yoga classes. It was literally like Deja Vu for Shivani and I – we had been by there playing in the snow with one of our family friends years before!

And then another boutique that does all eco-products.. a mommy and daughter store!

The fun part of all this is that we took a catnap in our car. Yes, in our car, on the side of the street near Louisana St and Downing. Weird, but we were so tired from 200 miles of driving and no sleep.. so yes it was a catnap that lasted about an hour…

And then proceeded to head out to our Chicks Who Click event at B Side Lounge – which we were super excited about meeting some of the best people we have met – authentic, real, exciting, and passionate! Nothing is better than meeting people like Barbara Jones, Gwen Bell, George G Smith, Gwen’s Joel, GeekMommy, Jen, Wayne Sutton, Doyle Al Bee, Zenaweist and MANY others. I hope that we will all find a way to work together, because I am inspired by their wisdom, knowledge, and fervor.

And when you get a group of that much energy, we turn the party in to Chicks who Clink!

See you tomorrow gang – as we are FINALLY at the day of our Conference!