Aug 26, 2008

Back to CoolBy Eva FriedeCanada.com

The inspirations come from Mongolia to Lake Massawippi to Montana, as in Hannah. The clothes are made around the globe.

But home base is Montreal for a fair number of companies supplying cool kids’ wear for back to school.

The industry is surviving, if not robust, said Patrick Thomas, who ran the Children’s Apparel Manufacturing Association until it was disbanded recently. “Those who have survived are good,” he said.

Industry executives, including Thomas, say Montreal is known for quality children’s wear and as a design centre.

“In Quebec, there’s this Euro feeling, very specific to Quebec,” Thomas said.

Consumers here – and in better boutiques in the U.S. and around the globe – want fashionable gear for their children, he said.

Montreal has always been the base of the children’s wear industry, said Ken Simon of Krickets, founded by his father in 1942.

While the number of companies is down, he said, fresh new eco brands are popping up. Indeed, Krickets has added a line of organic baby clothes.

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