Kids’ Clothes: Articles of Interest #1

Clothes are records of the bodies we’ve lived in. Think of the old sweater that you used to have that’s just not your style anymore, or the jeans that just aren’t your size anymore. We are like snakes who shed our skins and grow new ones as we age. And it all starts in the kids’ department.

Articles of Interest is a show about what we wear; a six-part series within 99% Invisible, looking at clothingEpisodes will be released on Tuesdays and Fridays from September 25th through October 12th.

For Kids’ Clothes, Avery Trufelman spoke with her friend and colleague Joe Rosenberg;  Erin Algeo, the curator at the Lacis Museum of Lace and Textiles in Berkeley; and Morgan, a technical designer for a large children’s clothing company; and professor Jonathan Faiers.

Credits

Production & Music

Articles of Interest was created by Avery Trufelman; Sasami Ashworth wrote the theme songs for the show; Rhae Royal made the rest of the music; Graham Hacia did the fact checking; Kelley Coyne did the mix; photography by Matty Lynn Barnes; Roman Mars is the executive producer.

Special thanks to Kassia St. Clair, Suzy Furrer, Juliet Hinley, Narooz Soliman, the Smitten Mitten Audio Collective in Detroit as well as Katie Mingle, Delaney Hall, Emmett Fitzgerald, Sharif Youssef, Vivian Le, Kurt Kohlstedt and the rest of the 99pi team.

  1. Andrea

    I’m really confused by one of the statements in this show. The clothing designer at ‘a famous brand’ said all sleep wear has to have flame retardants but I’ve bought plenty of sleep wear that specifically says “no flame retardants” like Burts Bees brand. So, huh? I would really like accurate information on this to be out there, it’s horrible stuff to be exposing our children to.

    1. Bill F

      Yeah I thought the same thing. After hearing the episode, I went and checked out my son’s clothing. His carter’s pajamas were labeled “not flame retardant” and some of his little pants had functional draw strings.

    2. george

      are you in the US? here in australia its exactly as per the interview. almost all of my kids clothes are not flammable.

    3. Jess

      Children’s sleep clothes must either be snug fitting or have flame retardants. That’s how companies like Burt’s Bees gets around this terrible flame retardants requirements.

      This episode should have had a brief PSA to tell parents to look for sleep clothes that do not have flame retardants. There is a ton of research showing how harmful this is to human health, especially babies and children.

  2. Sean

    Great episode as always! Any chance there’s a full version of the song introduced at 22:14? I’d love to hear the rest of it! :D

  3. arun

    “there is a portrait, painted on the things we love…”

    where can i find this ending song?

    1. glttrgrl8

      Yes, what @Sean and @arun said! I love that song, but Shazam and google have failed me thus far in my efforts to identify it. Great episode BTW!

  4. Lori P

    Confused by the product developer that says there is no feedback from the kids of what they like. I work in the clothing industry as well and that feedback is called Sales! We get it every day, week, month, year. And believe me, kids let their parents know what they like.

  5. Susie

    Joe Rosenberg needs to start a blog so adults who are forced to shop in the kids department know where to look for fashionable clothing! More please! My 17 year old son is also under 5’, and wears the same thing everyday because he hates shopping at Gap for kids or the children’s place. I loved hearing Joe’s part of the episode, and would love to see his outfits and where he gets them.

    1. Adam

      Have you checked out H&M? Don’t know if it because they are Scandinavian (black is a Christmas colour) but they tend to have have a lot more less colourful kids clothing . Though I live over in Denmark and the colour thing isn’t necessarily as much of a thing here. Yes you see it but you also see clothing that looks like it could be for adults just small also. So maybe see how hard it is to shop from Denmark and have it shipped to the states.

  6. Sara Marie

    This episode would have benefited from a little more online footage or the loom function, the design got lost in description.

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