Mothercare launches its latest celebrity range

Mother and baby fashion retailer Mothercare has launches a children’s fashion collection with Jools Oliver, the wife of celebrity chef Jamie Oliver, as the retailer hopes to turn around the struggling business. In May, Mothercare posted considerable

losses in its preliminary results, and it is hoped that the new celebrity endorsed childrenswear line from Jools Oliver will emulate the success of its best-selling ‘Baby K’ collection designed by celebrity mum Myleene Klass, which launched in 2007.

The exclusive ‘Little Bird’ collection marks Jools Oliver’s first foray into childrenswear design and follows on from her bestselling parenting book. The line features clothing for newborn and children up to the age of five, as well as a range of nursery bedding, accessories and gifts, and Mothercare is hoping that the range will be equally as popular as her husband’s branded products.

Mothercare CEO Simon Calver, who joined the retailer back in April from LoveFilm, said: “We are delighted to have Jools on-board and add the Little Bird collection to our stores. The new product range offers exceptional quality and style at an affordable price, which reflects exactly what our customers tell us they want from Mothercare.”

Commenting on her first fashion collection, Oliver commented: “I have such a passion for the design of children’s clothes, so to have this opportunity to work with Mothercare is just amazing.
My designs combine both quirky and classic style inspired by my childhood memories. The collection features nostalgic, classic pieces, sprinkled with unique touches and playful attention to detail. The entire collection has been lovingly put together and accessibly priced for parents.”

The collection follows the recent launch of the retailer’s largest UK store, a 30,000 square foot site in Edmonton, North London, which has been designed to “reflect customer needs”. It features a ‘mumspace’ zone for parents to take their toddlers, a 4D ultra-sound scanning studio, the chain’s first in-store Costa Coffee, which is equipped with iPads for an interactive sales experience, and it has the UK’s largest ‘buggy park’ that allows parents-to-be to road-test the latest prams and buggies before they buy.