The Fashion of Maclaren

Being a twenty year old, I’m not necessarily in the market for baby products. However, I am an art student, so I’m very interested in textiles and fabric.  Maclaren has a line of baby products that caught my interest for that reason, and I was happy to take a look through the samples box Maclaren sent to my brother-in-law (check out review and Universal Studios highlight).

A green messenger bag is the first thing I pull from the box. This bag has nice texture, and I love the light green complementing the dark green exterior.  The material is stain resistant, which is really nice for mothers, because infants are always leaking from somewhere (I know this because I am an aunt of four). The bag has three separate sections, and each part seems like it has a spot for everything. There is a pocket for a credit card or ID or business card, and pockets for cell phones and iPods. There are spots for diapers and burp cloths, food, and bottles. There is even a drink spot for the carrier—at least, that’s what I assume the black water-bottle-shaped zip-up pouch is for.  I must admit, all the different pouches seem like they could potentially cause hysteria while trying to find the pacifier. I do really enjoy the pull-out pouch, though; I could see that coming in handy, because my sister is always changing her children on my living room furniture; finally she will have a portable changing pad!

On to the reversible seat liners.  Already I like them because they are reversible.  Once you’re tired of the first pattern (or it’s been puked on one too many times), you can switch it to the velvety soft fabric on the other side (each liner has one quilted side).  The patterns are all different, to appeal to a wide variety of mothers, and to fit with the gender of the child, as well. There are patterns of birds on a wire, green leaves, red and gray stripes, red with light gray flowers. There are also pink, yellow, and white apples; brown corduroy; multi-colored diamonds; blue and purple leopard; and cars and trains. The patterns are all so cute and fun; any one of them could make any mother smile by just looking at it! The colors are complementary, and the fabrics are resistant to stain and durable. I’m personally obsessed with the leopard print and the pink and yellow apples—they are adorable for a girl!  Although, the true winner is the shearling seat liner; it is the ultimate luxury baby seat.  The only downside is that it probably wouldn’t last long in the stain department, as I imagine it would probably be pretty hard to wash mushy fruit snacks off of the fur.

What’s the next item in the box of magical baby items?  The clothes!  A boy’s set and a girl’s set.  They each come with socks, a hat, a blanket, and mittens.  The socks and mittens are tied up to each other so they stay together, which is a cute and thoughtful packaging design.  The blue boy’s set is precious, but not as soft as the girl’s set.  Also, the girl’s set has little embroidered flowers on all of the pieces, which are adorable!  The scalloped embroidery on the girl’s set is a perfect touch of sweetness, while the simplicity and stripes of the blue set is very appropriate for a boy.

The last item in the box is the fabric swatches, one pack for the liner and another for the buggy, or stroller exterior.  The liner swatches are a continuation of the fully developed liner samples, including more textiles and more color options, which is really important.  Don’t you hate it when you find the perfect print but it just isn’t your color?  That problem won’t happen here!  The pink apples also come in black and white, and the leopard print also comes in yellow/brown and black/gray.  The fabrics are also in every different texture you could think of from mini quilted diamonds to big quilted diamonds to crosshatched.  The buggy materials have some soft velvety ones mixed with the durable stain resistant fabrics that have been frequent in the rest of the products. There is also a waterproof plastic-feeling fabric and a heavy-duty mesh.  The patterns include some of those from the liner collection, and they all come in many different colors.

These collections are absolutely perfect for any mother and the child she’s toting.  There are so many options to mix and match that there’s bound to be a combination for every mother and child. The best thing about the patterns and combinations is that most of the textiles are androgynous—that way, if a family has more children, they won’t have to buy new patterns if an opposite-gender child is added to the family.  Maclaren is a very successful brand that has become a household name and a necessity for new families, and with the versatility of this product line it’s easy to see why.

Piece written by Samantha Perlman

Note: Samples sent by Maclaren for review