More than just another crunchy baby shop!

Here at Born, we've always prided ourselves on our ethics - we support organic, fair trade, local, sustainable and healthy products and love working with those that manufacture their goods in line with our principles.  But we also believe in good design, in having objects in your home and life that will bring you pleasure as well as serve you practically.  William Morris said “Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful”, and that is how I approach my buying for Born.  Is it healthy? Beautiful? Practical? Will it last?  Can I see parents - my friends, myself even! - handing this down to their children, being proud to have it in their homes?  If yes, then I know I am on to a winner.

Our customers know we stock our shops and website with this ethos, and therefore have come to expect certain things from Born; our toiletries contain no harmful chemicals, our plastics are all BPA free, our disposable nappies are as 'eco' as possible.  People visit us from quite a distance to see our large range of good quality 'proper' slings and baby carriers, to be able to see cloth nappies in the flesh, to try on a good range of decent nursing bras.  And we love this!  But did you know that we also stock many items that might not fit into the 'crunchy' mould?  Or did you see them and wonder - hmm, why do they sell buggies?  And what is with that dress, it's not organic?

We realise that not all parents are going to make the same parenting choices.  So while we believe that carrying babies, especially tiny newborns, is best for them, we do also understand that this isn't always going to be how your baby is transported around.  Eva and I both have Bugaboo buggies - and loved them!  Why?  Because they are designed and built so well, allowing you to have your child rear-facing.  Our kids have obviously all gone into car seats, so we stock what we feel are the best car seats on the market in our shops.  Many parents don't bed-share, for many reasons, so we offer cots which are more than just a large piece of nursery furniture; the Sleepi cot for example grows with your child and becomes a toddler bed.

With clothing, we do feel that there is room in Born for lovely goodies that aren't 100% organic.  Sometimes we find a local designer whose work we love - like Hana at Itsy Do. She makes one-off dresses for us, available to buy in both shops - they usually fly out!  And you won't find them anywhere else unless you sign up to her classes and learn to make your own.  Sometimes, at a trade show, we will see a range and just 'know' that it will be right for our customers; James had this gut feeling with Noa Noa Miniature Baby which is hitting our London shop right now.  Sometimes, I will see a range and it will be a slow-burner, with a bit of persuasion needed to stock it, such as Swiss brand L'Asticot - who are organic but not our usual style!  This season we have quite a few new brands coming into the shop: Hucklebones, Shampoodle, Tapete - as well as shoes by Livie & Luca.

What they all have in common is outstanding quality and first-class design.  And that is what Born is all about.  We truly believe that if you can make something in organic cotton, then that adds to the quality, that 'clean' plastics are superior to standard ones and that a brilliant buggy helps you be closer to your baby; and then you have satisfied William Morris' design criteria!

Becky
Born Buyer