THEY are Hollywood's smallest shills, infant influencers, pint-sized pitchmen. Yes, celebrity babies are fashion's new mini mannequins, already selling clothes when their biggest concern in life is a clean nappy.
I guess it was inevitable that the celebrity-dressing craze, fueled by paparazzi photos and weekly fan magazines, would extend to the next generation. But the hype over Shiloh Nouvel Jolie-Pitt's T-shirt is unbelievable. The 2-week-old wore a Kingsley vintage-washed, raw-seamed gray T-shirt for her debut photo shoot in People magazine last week -- and that was enough to create a run on the L.A. label. The $42 cotton shirt is emblazoned with the image of a skull and crossed spoons, pots and pans, and the words "The Pots & Pans Band." It was designed by Kingsley Aarons, and back in January, given to Angelina Jolie by the upscale Denver baby boutique Belly.
Janci Frisby, co-owner of the store and instant baby fashion guru, has talked to several magazines and newspapers, even as she admits she can't be sure Shiloh is wearing \o7her\f7 shirt. Still, the media attention has been enough to increase traffic in the store and online, with the number of sales on bellymaternity.com going from an average of two per day to 50 per day.
"People are coming in and behaving like the store is a museum," she says of Belly, which she calls a "mini Barneys," stocking True Religion, Seven Jeans, Juicy, Lacoste and Ya Ya clothes for kids, as well as more obscure labels such as Simple Kids out of Antwerp, Judith Lacroix from Paris and Makie from Japan. "Customers are asking if we can wrap five gifts separately in Belly bags, and leave the price tags on. It's been huge for branding." So much so, that Frisby and her business partner Katy Close are shopping for real estate to open a second store in L.A.'s Melrose Heights shopping district, celebrity mama mecca.
Jolie's kids are style icons in the making. Last year, her son Maddox made headlines with his mohawk hairdo, still a favorite with the toddling set.
"Maddox has become the spokesperson for hip, celebrity kids' wear," says retailer-to-the-stars Fraser Ross, who owns the Kitson and Kitson Kids stores on Robertson Boulevard. "The Bulldog T-shirt he wore, we sold hundreds of them instantly. The manufacturer had to recut it for us."
Ross anticipated fashion's baby boom when he opened Kitson Kids last August.
