Team Chipmunk

For 15 years I was a film and theatre costume designer based in New York and Los Angeles. I never anticipated the life changes that would come with motherhood, and when my two adorable and precocious kids were born, I took some time off to grow with them. As a designer, who thinks a great deal about fit, character, and usage, but had very little experience in children’s wear, I became frustrated with the poor fit and poor utility of so many kids clothing items. I started tinkering with designs that would better meet their funny architecture, toddler tummies, and fast growing legs. In my theatre and film career I had spent plenty of time making clothes from odd materials and vintage textiles, so I simply continued the practice with my children’s clothes. I have always loved the character, uniqueness, and romanticism of vintage fabrics and clothing, the exclusiveness of them, and the sustainable earth-friendliness using them. By using vintage and recycled fabrics, and not expending fuels on their manufacture, we are not only keeping our carbon footprint miniscule, but also reducing waste at the same time. So we are a green eco-chic sustainable company. But most importantly, let’s not forget about cuteness. Team Chipmunk was created in 2009, quite by accident, as I was actually trying to take time off from work, when my solo experiments began getting notice, and order requests, and ultimately a little self-made website featuring my one-of-a-kinds, and then voila orders from very patient and very nurturing retailers. I named the company after my nickname for my two kids, who were then and are now, chatty, fast-moving, rambunctious, and precocious. When they were little, and a tough crew to take on the town, I would say “come on team chipmunk let’s go”. It was then, and continues to be a good mantra.