What might be deemed more sensible in these tight times: spending £12 on a pair of leather children’s shoes — after all, their feet grow quickly — or £40 on pink glittery sandals that certainly won’t fit by next summer? British parents, it would appear, think the latter.
The key trend in fashion retail for 2009, according to Wendy Bush, head of merchandising menswear, leisure and CTC at John Lewis, is that customers are willing to spend more on their children if the quality and design is right. “Childrenswear performed 5 per cent higher than the rest of fashion through the first half of the year,” she says. “Dresses, as an example, in girlswear have sold 88 per cent more than last year. Toys also saw a huge increase, as did kids’ craft — parents want to treat their kids.”
So at a time when you might be expecting budget brands and own label lines to be filling the shelves, things couldn’t be more different. John Lewis is stocked up with the latest designer childrenswear, from Polo Ralph Lauren to Barbour and Little White Company.
The irony is that while their children are strutting around in designer threads, parents are sticking with bargain basement brands such as Primark and TK Maxx making do and mending and using clothes swapping parties as a modern twist on hand-me-downs.
According to a recent survey by insurers Sheila’s Wheels, 76 per cent of credit-crunched parents are cutting back on their own clothing spend so that their children can dress in the best. One in five of those asked said that they spent between £500 and £1,000 a year to keep a single child in the latest designs, while 86 per cent said that they spend less than £1,000 on their own wardrobes. Pester power and keeping up with the neighbours is clearly a force to be reckoned with: 62 per cent said they felt pressurised to spend more on their children than themselves. It’s a sign of the times that purchase power is an important marker for how good a parent you are, rather than the less visible and arguably more important areas of listening, supporting and educating one’s offspring.
The recession boost isn’t just happening in fashion. Children’s books are continuing to enjoy an unexpected leg up at a time when the death knell has been sounded for publishing. A new kidult lit genre is chiming neatly with our troubled times. These books are a crossover from the children’s market into adult literature and tend to be the type of story where good defeats bad and the world seems to be a fair place. And the bonus is that you only need to buy one book for the whole family — when you’ve finished it, you can pass it on to the children, or vice versa.
The toy market has also had some unexpected results. While consumer spending is down in general, Playmobil has recorded a record first half of 2009, with sales up 16 per cent and orders up 40 per cent, year-on-year. The company’s commercial director, Graham Brennan, was working in the toy industry during the last recession and knows his brand is in a safe place to weather the storm.
“Overall, the toy market is running down, year-on-year, as a result of current customer spending patterns,” he says, “But the more traditional toys or those with a heritage and following are usually protected during a recession. Parents’ primary concerns are those of quality, safety, value for money and educational value... They are also looking for longevity from the products they buy and are more likely to spend their cash on toys that will last for years to come.”
The message is clear: recession is bringing opportunities to the children’s market. The jury’s out on whether it’s good for the kids themselves though: classic toys rather than expensive games consoles sound like a wholesome thing, but is bringing up our children to expect only the best going to lead to a nation of discerning consumers or spoilt brats?
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