What is important to us

When we started our business we had some very clear ideas about what was important to us, what we wanted to achieve and why we were even starting in the first place. We knew what was truly non-negotiable when it came to the type of products we wanted to develop and the way we wanted to run the business. These values reflect who we are as a family and as a result as a company. It took a while to design and develop the little uniforms we now make, it took time to find partners we are happy to work with but underpinning it all are the values that we consider the guiding principles of our business, the ones we can return to in times of change and growth.

Community

There are thousands of people in our community who care for and protect each and every one of us. They work amongst us and touch many aspects of our everyday lives. Some we meet regularly in our restaurants and shops, some we meet only in times of need such as Paramedics and Gardaí. These incredible professionals deserve to be recognised for their important role in our communities. They are real-life role models for our children. They are strong, brave, kind, and smart and they are committed to helping others. We use the medium of dramatic play to connect children to the people in our communities as they develop their own sense of belonging and become citizens in their own right.

Learning through play

Children learn through play and play should be a fundamental part of every childhood. Communication, social skills, motor skills, independence, critical thinking, and creativity all develop through meaningful play. We believe that dramatic-play or role-play has an important developmental function in childhood and that every child deserves the opportunity to experience the joy of taking on the persona of inspirational characters from their own community in rich and meaningful play.

Duty of care

We have an inherent duty of care to our customers; the children, parents, and educators who use our costumes day-in-day-out. Our little uniforms have to live up to our promises of durability, and quality and bring joy to all who wear them. Additionally, we take our responsibility for the safety of our little customers very seriously. Our costumes are all tested to EU Toy Safety standards and carry the CE mark.

Our duty of care extends to our suppliers, partners, our collaborators, and our team. Their well-being is important to us. We respect their individual skills and expertise and we are thankful for all that they do for us and the passion they bring to each project.

Minimising our impact

We choose to work with cotton. Cotton is expensive to work with and it would be much cheaper and easier to use synthetics like polyester or blends but adding to the plastic waste and throw away culture typical of our industry just doesn’t sit well with us. It doesn’t reflect the type of things we buy ourselves or for our children so it was an easy decision to ditch synthetics even if it was hard to find heavy-weight cotton that we could use and still pass all the required tests. Our fabrics are all Oeko Tex certified and are incredibly durable so they last for years of play.

We have reduced our plastic packaging over the years- we now use cardboard boxes, paper tape, and tissue paper for the majority of your orders, and where we need to use mailer bags they are biodegradable.

We are by no means finished, we are aware that there are many more ways we can reduce our impact and we will continue to do so.

Craftsmanship matters

What we make and how we make it is the embodiment of all of our guiding principles. It is our expression of our duty of care to our customers, our respect for the professions our cosutmes represent, our celebration of the skills of our partners and our desire to reduce the negative impact on our environment. It is natural that all of that results in well-made, durable and authentic little uniforms that bring joy to so many of our customers.